The haute couture brand Balenciaga received a lot of criticism after publishing an advertising campaign with children and teddy bears dressed in bondage clothing -an erotic practice based on immobilizing the other person with ropes, straps or other tools, and with glasses of alcohol. The campaign photographer said the images are part of a collection called "Toy Stories.” Balenciaga removed the images from its website and social media.
The CEO of the conservative association Concerned Women for America, Penny Nance, called the campaign "child exploitation" and blamed Balenciaga for running a pedophile campaign:
Balenciaga has a fart problem! "sparks outrage over 'depraved' ad campaign with toddlers, teddy bears in bondage " https://t.co/1MRi3JZfm5@FoxNews
- Penny Nance (@PYNance) November 22, 2022
Nance told Fox News that “it's not about being provocative and attention-grabbing. The whole campaign sexualizes children, period. It's child exploitation, period. And it feeds and normalizes a culture that is dark and depraved."
Social networks were flooded with criticism of Balenciaga for its campaign, and some users even demanded that a legal investigation be opened to hold all the adults involved in the campaign accountable:
As pornography destroys our men, and sex trafficking is rampant, we must hold companies that toy around with sexualizing children to account. This campaign is on the nose exploitation and every adult involved should be fired and investigated. https://t.co/LnGAjXmNqz
- Alison H.Centofante (@AlisonHowardC) November 22, 2022
Balenciaga severed their ties with @kanyewest due to a tweet.
Yet they expect us to just "accept their apology" after they get caught up sexualizing children?
They're not apologizing because they're sorry. They're apologizing because they got caught.
- CJ Pearson (@thecjpearson) November 22, 2022
Balenciaga apologizes
Balenciaga apologized in an Instagram story and admitted that they made a mistake:
We sincerely apologize for any offense our Christmas campaign may have caused. Our stuffed bear bags should not have been featured with children in this campaign. We have immediately removed the campaign from all platforms.
