Samsung Faces Backlash From Both Liberals, Conservatives Over Ad Featuring Drag Queen

© AP Photo / Lee Jin-manSamsung Electronics Co
Samsung Electronics Co - Sputnik International, 1920, 22.01.2022
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The ad was part of a campaign called "Listen to your heart" aimed at promoting Samsung's wearable products such as noise-cancelling earbuds and a smart watch with a heart monitoring device.
South Korean tech giant Samsung has had to withdraw an ad featuring a drag queen and his Muslim mother due to backlash from some conservative parts of Singapore's Muslim community.
Following what some people deemed to be an attempt to push the LGBTQ ideology, Samsung apologised, acknowledging that it was aware that the clip "may be perceived as insensitive and offensive".

"Samsung believes that innovation and growth are driven by diversity and inclusivity", the company said in a Facebook statement. "We will certainly be more mindful and thorough in considering all perspectives and viewpoints for our future marketing campaigns".

The now removed ad features several people who are offered to test the sound quality of Samsung's earbuds, and then to listen to some heartwarming messages from their loved ones, so that the heart monitor installed in the smart watch could measure their heart rate.
Among other participants, there is a Muslim mother of a drag queen, with her son telling her he is proud of her being unbothered by the opinion of other people regarding what he's doing.

"You are just unbothered having people looking or judging you differently, having a son that does drag", he tells her in his message.

All of the participants are then seen meeting those who left them the message.
Not everyone ended up feeling emotional and touched, however, with certain parts of the Muslim community saying they were offended by the ad and its "mainstreaming homosexuality and transgenderism into a conservative society".
After Samsung removed the ad, many people criticised it for the move, saying that the company had surrendered to "homophobia", and even stating they will be boycotting the firm's products.
Others said that the dispute is set to go on forever, as it is impossible to get "all minorities to agree with each other".
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