On Tuesday, Balenciaga issued an apology for its controversial advertising campaign, which portrays young children snuggling teddy bears decked up in bondage gear. The photographs, which were made public as part of the Balenciaga Gift Shop campaign last week, sparked immediate and harsh criticism.
The images, which were taken by photographer Gabriele Galimberti, show kids with teddy bears that seem to be wearing BDSM-inspired outfits. In one image, a little girl is holding multiple wine glasses. The campaign was taken down following a social media backlash.
The luxury fashion house on Tuesday posted an apology on Instagram and emptied all the previous posts from their main account.
Balenciaga was accused of sexualizing kids after the images received harsh condemnation online. Many criticized the brand and the "problematic" campaign while also raising concerns about the appropriateness of the images. Some netizens stated that they do not believe Balenciaga's apologies, even after the brand apologized for the campaign.
Some of the reactions were –
Remember when Balenciaga dropped Kanye West for being anti-semitic? Well, here is their new campaign featuring children, teddy bears in bondage and court papers that talk about pedo stuff. Seems like they no longer have the moral high ground #Balenciaga pic.twitter.com/7UQjBIpac3
— Purple Unicorns (@Purple_Unicornz) November 22, 2022
BALENCIAGA should never be forgiven ever.
Their kids campaign has dozens of sick references that are so obvious. So many dark symbolism. Truly unforgivable and criminal.
Balenciagas executives must be held accountable! #balenciaga #BalenciagaGate #BalenciagaGroomers pic.twitter.com/KJ7rTxsqcq
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) November 24, 2022
Pedophilia is wrong. Sexualization of children is wrong. Mutilation of children is wrong. This isn't rocket science. There is no reason why #Balenciaga should have even thought that this Holiday Campaign was okay. Simply Disgusting. pic.twitter.com/pw2mFCJXRh
— Logicalism (@jesstpineda86) November 23, 2022
Only a few days after deleting its Twitter account, the brand issued an apology.
(Source - Instagram)
