Insulting women is not creativity

A young woman walking alone at night realizes that a man is following her. She tries to flee but the man catches up with her. Being unable to shake him off, she takes out her makeup remover, wipes her face clean, and stops.

The man, who is now right behind her, puts a hand on her shoulder and she turns around. However, she looks no longer like a woman. It is an ugly man who looks back and asks "Excuse me?" The screen then goes blank with a subtitle implying that the man addressed throws up.

This scene is actually a part of an advertisement released by PurCotton, a domestic brand featuring daily care products. For days now, the brand has been receiving flak on social networking sites.

On Friday, PurCotton apologized on its official micro blog account for the ad, saying that they did not mean to offend women.

On Sunday, it posted an open letter stating that its intentions were good, devoting over 80 percent of the letter to its sales and achievements, prompting many users to ask if it was apologizing or patting itself on the back.

It would seem PurCotton has not grasped where it went wrong.

First, a man following a woman at night is no laughing matter. It can be a traumatic experience for any woman.

Second, the video implies that the man left the woman alone on seeing she had an ugly man's face. However, a woman faces sexual assault not because she is goodlooking but because the man assaulting her has evil intentions.

Third, in the video, the woman's face turns so ugly on applying a makeup remover that the man chasing her throws up. It implies that people look beautiful only because they apply makeup.

PurCotton should listen to what women are saying and make amends.