General Motors Takes Down Ad and Apologizes to China For Offensive Content

General Motors removed an ad campaign for its new Chevy Trax SUV after getting negative feedback for using a song that offended the people of China, reports BBC.

General Motors' new ad for its Chevy Trax compact SUV, which was featured only on Canadian television was later posted on a European website, used an old 1938 song by Lil Armstrong and her Swing Orchestra "Oriental Swing" with the lyrics, "Now, in the land of Fu Manchu, The girls all now do the Suzie-Q, Clap their hands in the center of the floor, Saying, 'Ching, ching, chop-suey, swing some more!'". General Motors quickly realizef the racist connotations and released an apology statement.

"GM has stopped airing a commercial for the Chevrolet Trax due to the objectionable lyrics of a song used in the spot's soundtrack," said the company's statement. "We apologize for the use of inappropriate content. We are conducting a full review of our advertising approval process to ensure this does not happen again in the future."

"Once the issue was called to our attention, GM immediately removed the offensive content from the commercial," GM Canada's communications director, Faye Roberts told the South China Morning Post.

Roberts assured that it was not in the company's interest to offend the audience in any way.

China has recently become one of the most prominent markets for GM sales. China sells more cars than the U.S. Chevy Trax is a compact SUV that is still to be launched in various markets. It is already available in the USA and South Korea and will be launched shortly in Europe and Canada.