JD.com, China's second-largest e-commerce website, was forced to apologize for using International Nurses Day (yesterday) to promote skimpy lingerie and sexy nurse's uniforms after some people complained online that the gimmick demeaned health professionals.

The site removed all reference to Nurses Day, including the headline "Sweetheart Nurses Day" and deleted pictures of models wearing revealing nurse uniforms on Monday.

"This is how JD.com honors International Nurses Day?" read a comment that was reposted nearly 12,000 times. "Selling that kind of stuff is insulting to nurses," the person wrote.

Retailers, both on the high street and online, have long used theme days and holidays as a way to promote sales of their products. Valentine's Day, Christmas, Easter and Halloween are among the most popular.

Others, like World Sleep Day, which falls on March 13, are less well known but can still be used to boost sales, in this case of pillows and mattresses.

Similarly, Handwashing Day on October 15 was used by savvy shop owners to promote personal-care products.

In the case of JD.com, it would appear that no one saw the lighter side of the promotion.

"International Nurses Day is to mark the contributions nurses make to society," said Li Feng, associate professor of Sociology at East China University of Political Science and Law.

"It's wrong to connect the day to sexy costumes," he said. "JD.com is an enterprise but it also has a social responsibility. Its campaigns should be in line with cultural norms accepted by the public."

JD.com told Shanghai Daily that it was sorry for any upset caused by the campaign.

It also canceled the promotion and deleted references to it from its website. It said it will tighten its censorship of marketing content in the future.

Another "day" used by online retailers to sell their goods is titled "Everyone Change Socks Day."

The most successful holiday campaign in China is Singles' Day, which falls on November 11 each year.

Internet giant Alibaba seized on the once obscure holiday — also known as Double 11 Day — and developed it to become the most profitable online sales day anywhere in the world.

Last year, it reported sales of more than 57.1 billion yuan (US$9.2 billion) on the day.

Nation

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