American fast food giant McDonald's may have not anticipated anger and criticism over one of its recent commercials.

The ad describes a Chinese man kneeling before a vendor and begging him to accept his expired discount coupon, but is refused. The advertisement goes on to say people don't have to worry about McDonald's coupons expiring, since their validity lasts for a whole year.

Charged of hurting Chinese consumers' sense of dignity and morality, the ad was soon banned in many big cities sucn as Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Tianjin, Xiamen and Xi'an.

McDonald's argued that it just wanted to be humorous. But in fact, the "humor" has simply gone too far and become an insult.

The ad is by no means an isolated case. A string of ads by famous transnational companies such as Toyota, Nike and Nippon Paint have recently apologized to Chinese consumers one after another for their improper ads. (See "related news" on this page). Obviously, one cannot attribute the resentment to Chinese consumers' being "over sensitive" and "slow in understanding".

Naturally, an ad is not designed to enrage consumers, but to maximize commercial returns. Then, why they produced opposite results?

The "humor" of McDonald's and "Chinese elements" such as stone lions, dragon and martial art seen in these above-mentioned ads can be interpreted as an effort by these companies to draw themselves closer to their Chinese consumers. However, as an important part of commercial culture, ads must be designed, whether in content or style, based on local realities, the receivers' dignity as well as feelings and cultural habits. Otherwise, these ads can only serve to tarnish a company's image and ultimately hurt its commercial interests.

Localized promotion and marketing schemes should be encouraged. But they must conform to people's cultural habits and feelings. Simple tricks alone would only rouse anger and revulsion for they lack real respect for and understanding of a culture.

Only by respecting consumers can one win the market. This is a most basic law in commerce. We hope transnationals, who have rich experience in global operations, can draw a lesson from these ad failures.

By People's Daily Online