Litter is seen scattered on Fuquan Mountain in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang Province, following a Canada Goose ads shoot. Photo: Screenshot from online video

Canadian apparel brand Canada Goose has apologized after a crew filming an advertisement for the company left litter on a mountain in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang Province, sparking criticism on Chinese social media. 

The company confirmed to the Global Times on Tuesday that its contracted production crew failed to properly clean up the site after filming and said the team had since returned to remove the waste.

The incident came to light after a local cyclist surnamed Xu posted a video on social media showing discarded materials scattered around Fuquan Mountain in Ningbo's Beilun district. 

Among the discarded materials were printed filming schedules bearing the Canada Goose logo, detailing a shoot for the brand's 2027 New Year products on October 9, including the scheduled start, location changes and wrap-up times, according to Chinese media reports.

Xu discovered the litter while cycling in the area on Sunday. In addition to the production schedules, he also spotted what appeared to be discarded meal boxes and plastic water bottles. In the video, he complained that rubbish had been left scattered across the mountain, raising questions about how the site had been treated after the filming wrapped up.

The video circulated online on Monday, drawing criticism on Chinese social media. Some netizens questioned the production crew's environmental awareness and failure to clean up the site, while others criticized the brand's oversight of its production partners. Some questioned whether the crew had assumed the discarded waste would go unnoticed in the remote mountain area.

This prompted a response from the brand. In a statement provided to the Global Times, Canada Goose acknowledged that its production partner had left waste behind after filming, affecting the surrounding natural environment. 

The company said it "sincerely apologizes for the waste left behind by the production partner after filming and its impact on the surrounding natural environment."

Canada Goose said it promptly contacted the production partner after learning of the incident. The crew subsequently returned to the site and "completed a cleanup of the affected area, along with an initial mountain clean-up initiative," according to the statement.

The company said that, at its request, the production crew had committed to sending workers to Fuquan Mountain every Saturday from October 17, 2026, to October 30, 2027, to inspect the area for litter, remove waste and document the cleanup efforts.

Canada Goose said that it would follow up on the implementation of these measures and strengthen on-site management and environmental protection requirements for future projects involving contracted partners.

In recent years, the environmental impact of foreign brands' commercial activities in China has drawn growing public scrutiny. In September 2025, outdoor apparel brand Arc'teryx faced online backlash after co-organizing a fireworks display in the Himalayas in Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region. 

The brand and artist Cai Guoqiang subsequently apologized, while an official investigation found that the event had caused localized environmental damage, with Arc'teryx required to bear corresponding legal responsibilities for compensation and ecological restoration.


Global Times