HONG KONG, May 1 (UPI) -- Alibaba has pulled a job advertisement seeking qualities similar to those of a Japanese adult film star and will "praise" programmers.
The original ad asked for physical features similar to those of Japanese porn star Sora Aoi. It also asked for someone willing to praise programmers, wake them up for morning meetings and motivate them to be more productive.
"It's not only an insult to women that such a job exists, it's also an insult to men, especially programmers," Li Weiyuan, a 26-year-old male and former programmer in China, told Bloomberg.
After being criticized on Chinese social media, Alibaba apologized and said the ad was an attempt at humor.
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"We apologize to anyone offended by this ad," a spokesman wrote in a statement. "Alibaba is committed to providing equal opportunity and fair treatment to all employees on the basis of merit, without discrimination."
The ad still alludes to a South Korean actress, but the company has stated it will accept both men and women for the position.
A designer for the website Github translated the ad on Twitter.
the job specs are:
1. you need to be pretty (gave many examples, including a Korean actress)
2. you know how to compliment programmers
— Mu-An ☔ (@muanchiou) April 30, 20153. you'll have to wake programmers up every morning
4. you know how to *tame* programmers and turn them into productive workers
— Mu-An ☔ (@muanchiou) April 30, 20155. you like new things
6. you'll be up for traveling all over the world
— Mu-An ☔ (@muanchiou) April 30, 2015
