Chinese netizens call for boycott of United Airlines -- say man was dragged out because he was Asian

Chinese social media erupted in anger yesterday (Apr 11) after a man -- reported to be of Asian decent -- was forcibly yanked out of his seat and dragged off an overbooked United Airlines flight. 

The incident became a trending topic on Weibo yesterday with thousands of Chinese netizens slamming United Airlines and calling for a boycott of the company. The man was identified by various media as Dr David Dao, a 69-year-old Vietnamese-American grandfather.

"This was not random, but racial discrimination. All Asian brothers should boycott this ******* company," said an angry comment on Weibo.

Another wrote:

"Although it is legal to sell more tickets than there are seats on the plane, violently forcing a passenger to leave the plane regardless of his dignity and rights is horrible.

"Is this the way United Airlines boasts the spirit of contract and human rights?"

Social media was also flooded with sarcastic tweets as well as memes from netizens, and many even took it upon themselves to come up with hilarious new slogans for United Airlines. 

One of the proposed new slogans was: "We put the hospital in hospitality."

Another read: "We beat the customer, not the competition."

American comedian Jimmy Kimmel even aired a parody United Airlines commercial during his show yesterday that poked fun at what had transpired.