The centuries-old Chinese game of mahjong has recently been in the news due to a highly misguided marketing attempt by an American company.

In a bid to give a “respectful refresh” and “modern makeover” to make the game appealing to the “stylish” masses, Dallas-based Mahjong Line produced a mahjong set that discarded the traditional tiles.

According to the company’s website, the idea came about when its founder, Kate LaGere, wanted a set of mahjong tiles that resonated with her personality and style.

Hence, her attempts at producing a “respectful refresh” of the game that sees the traditional white tiles being replaced with brightly-coloured ones instead.

While the company first launched these products in November 2020, photographs of the tone-deaf products only began circulating widely on social media recently.

Many people have pointed out that the founders of the company are non-Chinese, and yet, their company website proudly declares, “We’re rethinking what Mahjong looks like.”

Noticeably, none of the expensive, redesigned tiles have any Chinese characters on them at all.

In place of bamboo sticks and Chinese characters, images of bar soap and palm trees were used instead.

Others have also found that the company whitewashes the cultural heritage of mahjong as well as its history, with a section titled “American vs Chinese Mahjong” which tells the story of how the game was Americanised in the 1920s.

The five redesigned sets are supposed to be targeted at people with certain personality types, with quizzes made available on the website to deduce which set would suit a customer’s personality.

Criticism on social media has been mounting, with one commenter pointing out that Chinese civilisation is one of history’s oldest.

In his tweet, Jeremy Lee wrote that the culture is not, “some cheap coloring book that can be filled in and be ‘made pretty’ by the standards of privileged teenyboppers”.

Another tweet read, “You are erasing Chinese culture before our eyes. Please honour Chinese culture, don’t try to ‘make it better’.”

As of Jan 6, 2021, the company released an apology, stating that in their effort to engage a new generation of mahjong players, the company had failed to pay homage to the game’s Chinese heritage.

“We are always open to constructive criticism and are continuing to conduct conversations with those who can provide further insight to the game’s traditions and roots in both Chinese and American cultures,” said the company.