kǎi dì māo凯蒂猫lián míng联名shāng pǐn商品yǐn qǐ引起zhēng yì争议
A Japanese TV drama called VIVANT is about spies and terrorist organizations.
In the second season, there is a fictional Chinese intelligence organization that uses violence against Japanese people.
Chinese media and many internet users believe that this content damages China’s image and gives people from different countries negative impressions.
Sanrio, a Japanese company, previously released merchandise in collaboration with the drama, including Hello Kitty toys dressed in spy outfits.
After the controversy arose, the company quickly apologized in China and Japan, stopped selling the related merchandise, and ended future cooperation as well.
The company said it will review collaboration content more carefully in the future.
The TV station that produced the drama said that the story is entirely fictional and was not intended to attack any country.
This incident also shows that foreign celebrities and companies need to pay attention to cultural and political issues when entering the Chinese market.
Recently, relations between China and Japan have been relatively tense, so cultural products of this kind are more likely to draw criticism and discussion.