The Xinjiang cotton campaign started last month when Chinese state media outlets and netizens picked out H&M for a remark made last year, and it quickly grew to include a wide range of other brands.
After expressing alarm over the suspected use of minority Uyghur slave labor in cotton manufacturing, Western retailers have faced retaliation in China.
Chinese TV stations have blurred out Western company logos in their programs in a sign of solidarity for China’s Xinjiang cotton initiative.
As post-production editors censor everything from T-shirts to sneakers, the step caused certain broadcasts to be postponed.
Beijing has however disputed this in a claim that they have no hand in the censorship move, and several brands have recently been subjected to boycotts.
There has been intense uproar online, with celebrities openly severing relations with Western companies in favor of Xinjiang cotton.
Famous television programs are now racing to express their support, with unintentionally hilarious consequences.
In China, some corporations’ online retailers have been blocked, and their stores have disappeared from some digital maps.
Thanks to their blurred-out shoes, singers and actors on famous variety shows like Sisters Who Make Waves now seem like they’re floating on clouds.
On the reality show Chuang 2021, the blurring was amplified by candidates wearing clothing emblazoned with Western logos from head to toe.
Given a large number of competitors, the reality TV shows Youth With You was potentially one of the most difficult programs to censor.
The show’s production company, iQiyi, released a note on March 25th claiming that an upcoming episode would have to be postponed, but failed to state a reason.
Nike, Adidas, and Puma are among the companies involved in the issue, as they are all part of the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), a non-profit organization dedicated to sustainable cotton production.
