Vincent Wong’s 2014 Brownface Racist Ad Rears Ugly Head Again After Repost From HK Meme Account

It’s been almost a decade ago, but a recent meme posted by Instagram account The Hong Kong Observer doesn’t seem like they are allowing TVB actor Vincent Wong to forget a commercial he did for Hong Leong Insurance.

The meme featured a video of the 40-year-old actor in brown face make-up and a curly wig. He was playing a domestic helper and promoting the insurance company’s services. “Throwback to that time Hong Kong thought they could get away with this,” read the meme.

If you ask us, it might have been 2014, but it is interesting how no one on the creative team found the finished product to be problematic then.

Though it has been years since the ad was last seen, netizens were quick to point out that it’s something that Hong Kong entertainment still does, referring to when actress Franchesca Wong was in brown face to play a domestic helper in TVB drama Barrack O’Karma 1968 last year. The broadcaster later apologised for the incident.

Others also observed that they “didn’t think it was problematic until now,” and found it “weird to look back and see the racism back then.”

Some even commented that it was “the first time seeing this… possibly because it wasn’t widespread enough.”

The advertisement did draw many complaints and was quickly taken down, with an apology issued shortly after.

According to Hong Leong Insurance back in 2014, its intention was “to draw the public’s attention to the benefits of having appropriate insurance protection for employees.”

Photo: Hong Kong Observer/Instagram