Bloomingdale receives negative feedback for an ad in its Christmas catalog for this year.
Bloomingdale is under fire for its latest ad, a Christmas ad featuring unforgivable behavior. In the poster for winter coats, a man and a woman stand next to each other with the woman turning slightly away from the man, while tilting her head back and laughing. The man looks creepily at her, and the text between them says,
“Spike your best friend’s eggnog while they’re not looking.”
…..WHAT. THE. HELL. was my first reaction. I want to know who was part of the marketing team, that sat around a table, and collectively decided that this was okay. Unacceptable! Reasons that this ad is despicable:
- Spiking eggnog is not okay. Bloomingdale, how could you?? Obviously this perpetuates a culture that we all hate – rape culture. Rape culture, something that normalizes sexual violence, has absolutely no place in an ad, or anywhere, for that matter. And with the guy looking shadily at her, Bloomingdale, you really hit the greasy nail on its head this time. Also, spiked eggnog sounds repulsive.
- Spiking your best friend’s eggnog is not okay. Not only is it terrible that the ad shows someone deceiving someone else, but the ad suggests that a man would take advantage of a close friend, specifically a female friend. The fact that “best friend’s” is in bold text makes me cringe furiously.
- The fact that her head is turned away while the ad suggests sneak around and do something while she’s not looking is the worst of all. Come on, Bloomingdale, why do we need to explain this to you? How will this affect the people viewing the ad? Will they think that this kind of behavior is acceptable? And what does this say to viewers of the ad who have been raped before? Relationships are built on trust, and suggesting that a best friend should exploit someone’s trust is undeniably bad.
Perhaps the only thing worse than the ad itself is Bloomingdale’s sorry excuse for an apology.
We heard your feedback about our catalog copy, which was inappropriate and in poor taste. Bloomingdale’s sincerely apologizes.
— Bloomingdale’s (@Bloomingdales) November 10, 2015
Yeah. It sure was inappropriate. But “in poor taste” is a gargantuan understatement. Bloomingdale, you belong to the group of advocates for pervading rape culture, whether it be intentional or unintentional.
It’s time to nip it in the bud. Their whole lives, girls have been taught to act a certain way to avoid provoking a reaction from boys. But now, it’s time to teach boys to essentially man-up and gain some respect for women, both mentally and physically. Ads like these are a huge part of the reason that rape culture gets perpetuated. Your audiences deserve better. Come on, marketing teams, it’s time to put these rapey ads to rest. Be more creative.