19-04-05_PR_Hornbach_Open_Dialogue_Interview

Edition                                002/2019

Date                                    April 5, 2019

“They are too fast and strong to deal with”

[Exclusive] Interview with a participant of the “open” conversation

Kim Yu-jin *, a South Korean living in Switzerland, made her way to the Hornbach company headquarters on April 1st, 2019. The trip between Lucerne and Bornheim at Landau took a total of 9 hours, the conversation only three. Kim expected people “with bad intentions" behind the dubious advertising campaign "This is how spring smells" because she considered the commercial for an "unmistakable case of racism and sexism" against Asian women. What she actually discovered behind closed doors was something "even more serious–the inability of all involved people of the company to understand and revise its racist and sexist issues with Asian women."

The company is "stunned", watching the rapidly increasing number of participants of the petition (http://chng.it/49shR2kLyM) against the advertising campaign, which reached the 31,000 mark after just 8 days. The remark that the supporters of this petition were "too fast and too strong” to handle slipped out of the advertising manager. Is the Bornheim-based company able to handle the crisis?

COLOGNE, Germany

(* The name was changed at the request of the interviewee.)

Just five years ago, Kim Yu-jin came to Switzerland. She wanted to restart her life and career. So, the former management expert from South Korea found new work as an engineer and also a new identity - an Asian woman in Europe.

“My circle of friends here consists of roughly three groups - German, Swiss and 'international.’ While these groups are getting along very well, discrimination happens, and it is a tricky topic to talk about.”

She was shocked when she discovered the now heavily criticized ad campaign of German DIY hardware supply Hornbach. "The advertisement circulated under the description that it entailed racist material." And that was the case. She was "in total shock," when she saw the ad for the first time. Because the 46-second ad represents an Asian woman as a sex object for white European men. The reaction of her international friends that "such a thing is quite usual in Germany," made her wordless for the second time. What's happening in Germany?

"I'm not afraid to approach my enemies," the native Korean responded with cool and carefully chosen words. "Only the train journey was annoying because the train was delayed for an hour." Why does she use such a strong word like enemies? She felt the ad campaign as an "attack" on her dignity and personality as an Asian woman living in Europe.

"I was especially curious: What kind of company and people would I have to deal with? I wanted to get a picture of my enemies myself. In addition, I had something to say, and Hornbach promised to listen to us. I cannot help but express what I think."

In the company's Bornheimer HQ, four people received three Asian women who were able to come to the remote place despite their short-term scheduling. A woman who introduced herself as an advertising manager, the PR director of the Bornheim company, Florian Preuß, another PR woman, and Maik Richter from the advertising agency Heimat Berlin were there, too. "There was not a single journalist."

Kim felt insecurity of the advertising manager quickly. "On one point she said that the participant of the petition were too fast and too strong to deal with." In the press release, which was later sent by the company to the mailboxes of German journalists, there is nowhere a trace of such uncertainty. "They seemed overwhelmed. I worried about their lack of competence to resolve this issue constructively. The representatives of the company and the advertising agency do not seem to have the ability to see the whole picture of the problem, including the positions of the Asian women."

Her fellow campaigners, whom she met for the first time, pointed to the influence of the advertising images on the German audience, especially in rural places where only a few Asian people live. One of them mentioned the failed promotion of the Italian fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana as an example. In November 2018, the designer duo sparked fierce criticism in China when it shot an image film for its first major fashion show in Shanghai. In the film, an Asian woman tried to eat spaghetti with chopsticks - without success. People from China criticized that this depicts a derogatory representation of the Asian women. Only when Chinese celebs canceled their participation in the fashion show, the fashion brand noticed the seriousness of the situation. Too late. Because the fashion show as such has been canceled.

Kim expressed her concern for the second generation of Asians in Europe. "For us emigrants, such stereotypical representation of Asian women may not be a problem, because we know how we, Asian women, really are. But for the generation born and growing up in Germany, such advertising has a very different meaning and might make them the object of bullying."

"With even heavier hearts" Kim returned to Lucerne. When she learned the next day that the company apologized but wanted to continue advertising, she shook her head. "To be a coincidence, this ad includes too many stereotypical images of Asian women as a sex object for white men, and these images are now being spread unreflected. Hornbach wants to break with this stereotype, but neither the company nor the advertising agency has the necessary competence for it. Hornbach's letter of intent can be genuine, but it is still problematic that the company does not change its position because the advertising clearly has a counter effect unlike its 'intention'."

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If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us:

Campaign #Ich_wurde_geHORNBACHt

Email: gehornbacht@posteo.de

The #Ich_wurde_geHORNBACHt campaign was created to awaken public awareness of racist and sexist discrimination against Asian people in the commercial film "This is how spring smells" by Hornbach Baumarkt AG. The group currently consists of 96 women and men of various nationalities. We stand for intercultural diversity and demand an apology from Hornbach and the ending of the broadcast.