Xiaomi says controversial ‘nuclear bomb’ ad wasn’t meant for Japan

Even Japanese death match pro wrestler Atsushi Onita thinks the ad was “inhumane”

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Xiaomi says controversial ‘nuclear bomb’ ad wasn’t meant for Japan

Published: 6:48pm, 7 May 2020Updated: 6:48pm, 7 May 2020

This article originally appeared on ABACUS

After releasing a controversial ad for the Redmi Note 9 showing a man exploding into a mushroom cloud over Tokyo, a backlash this week resulted in Xiaomi pulling the ad and apologizing. But now the smartphone maker says the ad was never meant for Japan.

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In a statement to Abacus, Xiaomi said that the video was conceptualized and produced by a third-party agency for “some global markets excluding Japan.”

The ad does feature several different locations, including New York and the North Pole. But the part that irked Japanese people takes place in Tokyo. In one part of the two-minute video, a person eating sushi is shown inflating into the shape of a balloon and floating into the air. Against a backdrop that appears to show Zojoji Temple and Tokyo Tower, the “fat man” explodes into an animated mushroom cloud.

The rapidly expanding and exploding man was apparently meant as a metaphor for the Redmi Note 9 Pro’s 33W fast charging (although presumably not meant to suggest the phone itself will explode). But it’s not hard to understand why some people might take exception to the depiction of a “fat man” going nuclear over Japan.

Fat Man was the code name of the nuclear bomb the US dropped over Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. The bomb was named after its bloated, egg-like shape and resulted in as many as 80,000 deaths once accounting for the long-term health effects of the radiation.

In addition to facing rebuke online, the video was condemned by well-known professional wrestler, actor and politician Atsushi Onita, who grew up in Nagasaki. The star of Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, a wrestling event involving weapons like barbed wire and fire, described the ad as “miserable and inhumane.”