SINGAPORE — Wellness technology firm Osim apologised on Monday (May 6) over a Mother's Day campaign that online critics said was insensitive and could promote fat shaming and even domestic violence.

The attempt to celebrate maternal love quickly turned sour after a picture of the slogan in a store exhibit, which read "Beat her belly bulge" was shared on online forum Reddit on Sunday. The slogan related to Osim devices intended to help users slim down.

In response to TODAY's queries, the Singapore company said that it would refresh the displays within all its stores and digital communications. Advertising space in malls and outside would be "progressively updated" from Tuesday.

The post on Reddit has since received more than 1,800 upvotes and has been viewed more than 400,000 times, with many people slamming the slogan as encouraging domestic violence and body shaming.

Ms Adelle Tan, assistant general manager of Osim Singapore, said: "We recognise that the language and tone of the tagline of our recent Mother’s Day campaign had caused discomfort and unhappiness with some members of the public."

She added that "we apologise sincerely for this oversight in our marketing efforts".

In the statement, Ms Tan said that the Osim team takes a serious view of public feedback and that "(it) was never (Osim's) intention to encourage negative feelings or ill-will towards women and much less, mothers — both of whom we have the utmost respect for".

The slogan "Beat her belly bulge" may have been a Mother's Day adaption of a slogan used by Osim earlier in the year, "Beat the body bulge".

On the Reddit post, many unimpressed consumers criticised the advertising campaign, with many calling out Osim's marketing team for the oversight.

Reddit user "Candid-String-6530" wrote: "Ahh yes. Domestic violence sprinkled with some body shaming. For Mother's Day...".

Another user "SmoothAsSilk_23" called it a "cringe campaign", adding that the company could have gone with more appropriate lines to celebrate Mother's Day.

One user, "nachosmojitos", found it distasteful to body-shame women who went through the experience of childbirth.

"Why need to body-shame women/mothers, especially after they went through body transformation and the most painful experience (of giving birth). Nothing wrong with belly bulge, not everyone can afford PT (personal trainers) or post-natal pilates classes."

QUESTION RAISED ON HOW IT WAS APPROVED

Others raised questions about how the marketing slogan had received approval to be displayed at physical stores and called for Osim to invest in better marketing.

Reddit user "pureeyes" wrote: "Mad that this slogan passed the conceptual stage, got approval from the higher-ups and actually made it to storefronts physically. All they had to do was change 'her' to 'that'."

Another user "analytics_Gnome" commented: "Companies really (need) to invest real money and get some proper marketing/public relations done already. So many weird/cringe marketing campaigns nowadays that you start to wonder where did they get these people from?"

Despite this, a handful of people noted the effectiveness of the slogan in catching their attention, which differed from the usual marketing techniques that were used by companies during special occasions.

Reddit user "CommonMetal-8578" wrote: "I haven't had to hear anything about Osim till today. Sounds more effective than the typical noise you get around this time,"

Another user "GR1EF3R" agreed, writing: "This is brilliant marketing. Makes you do a second take." The person then talked about coming across one last time for a photography shop that read "Shoot your kids, frame your mother-in-law".

In the statement on Monday, Ms Tan from Osim thanked the public for the feedback and opinions, adding that Osim would "learn from this and review our marketing campaigns more stringently in the future".