Snickers apologizes for portraying Taiwan as a ‘country’

US confectionery giant Mars Wrigley has apologized and said it “respects Chinese sovereignty” after an ad for its Snickers chocolate bars featured Taiwan as a “country”. China believes that the island of 23 million people, even if ruled by a rival Chinese regime, should be reunited with the rest of the national territory. She opposes any international recognition of Taipei.

The promotional video for an event involving Snickers and South Korean music group BTS ended with the words “only available in the following countries”, with the flags of South Korea, Malaysia and the Republic of China (Taiwan). However, this video, which is not intended for the mainland Chinese market, was discovered by Chinese netizens, sparking controversy on social media.

“We have taken note of press reports regarding a Snickers event taking place in parts of Asia,” Mars Wrigley said late Friday in a statement posted on Snickers China’s official Weibo social media account. “We take this very seriously and offer our sincerest apologies,” continues the confectionery giant, which says “respect China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

“There is only one China”

Snickers China later posted an additional message on its Weibo account: “There is only one China in the world and Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory.” This case occurs in the midst of Beijing-Taipei tensions, after the stay on the island of the American number three Nancy Pelosi, to which China is currently responding with large-scale military exercises around Taiwan.

Mars Wrigley is far from the first foreign company to apologize in China after diplomatic blunders over fears of losing access to the huge local market. In 2019, Dior, owned by the French giant and the world’s number one luxury brand LVMH, apologized after using a map of China without Taiwan during a presentation at a Chinese university.

The year before, the website of US hotel giant Marriott had been blocked for a week in China. Reason: the group had presented in an online questionnaire the Chinese regions of Tibet and Hong Kong, but also Taiwan, like so many different countries.