The advertisement, for the Chinese detergent brand Qiaobi, featured a black man being transformed into a fair-skinned Chinese after being washed by the detergent in a washing machine. [Video clip]

The Chinese company behind the controversial racist commercial for a detergent brand apologized for the advertisement on Saturday but added that the media is "overreacting."

Qiaobi laundry detergent, owned by Shanghai-based Leishang Cosmetics, posted the following statement on its Weibo microblog account: "We are sorry that our commercial content led to controversy, and we have no intention of shirking our responsibility. We have stopped airing the commercial and have removed links to it. We hope that internet users and the media will also stop circulating the video."

The commercial quickly went viral in China and overseas in the past few days. It featured a black man being transformed into a fair-skinned Asian man after being put into a washing machine by his Chinese wife. It clearly is a copycat of Coloreria Italiana's controversial commercial "Coloured is better", which first aired ten years ago.

The statement continued, "For the harm the commercial and the over-hyped controversy has caused to people of African descent, we want to apologize. We sincerely hope that internet users and the media will not continue over-analyzing the situation."

Internet users responded with anger. "This is disgusting marketing, they treat consumers as idiots and they are being shamed overseas. I will never use this brand's products."

"Aside from the racism, how about telling us why you ripped off the creative idea of an Italian commercial? And how about why you deleted our comments?"

But some supported the brand, saying, "Foreign media is using their values about race to judge us. But actually most Chinese don’t feel strongly."

Liu Junhai, a professor of civil and commercial law at Renmin University of China, told Shanghai Daily that the commercial reflects the lack of public awareness about racial issues in China.

"Chinese brands should stay alert because of fast-spreading social media," Liu said. "The authorities should strengthen awareness through education and supervision of the advertising industry as well as punishing cases of discrimination."

According to China's Advertisement Law, which was updated last year, any content containing or implying national, racial, religious and gender discrimination is prohibited in advertisements and will be subjected to penalties.

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