That stinks! P&G China fined for ad about "smelly ladies"

Procter & Gamble (P&G) China has been fined 700,000 yuan (US$104,650) for a controversial advertisement it posted in March about "smelly ladies."

The advertisement in question is a post that appeared on one of the American multinational company's official WeChat accounts "P&G Members Center" which was titled "Women's feet are five times more smelly than men's? If you don't believe it, then smell yours now!"

The ad, first published on March 13, was taken down 11 days after a myriad of negative reactions to it, dubbing it off-putting and disrespectful towards women.

The company failed to indicate from where it cited the controversial content, and the cited content was not in full accordance with the original texts, according to the market watchdog of Huangpu District, Guangzhou City in south China's Guangdong Province, which handed out the punishment last Friday.

The company was fined for "obstructing public order and violating good morals of society."

P&G China has apologized for the post and closed the WeChat account where the post appeared.