In the ad, a nicely dressed woman is laughing, with her head tossed back over her right shoulder. The man to her left is staring intently, perhaps even leering at her. And right in the upper middle of the page is the caption that reads: Spike your best friend’s eggnog when they’re not looking.
The Wall Street Journal reports that data gathered from the social media analytics firm Networked Insights shows that there have been 3,868 comments on social media sites, the vast majority of them negative, with many comments calling the ad “creepy.”
In response to the negative backlash generated by the ad, Reuters published Bloomingdale’s statement of apology that said: “In reflection of recent feedback, the copy we used in our recent catalog was inappropriate and in poor taste. Bloomingdale’s sincerely apologizes for this error in judgment.”
Jonah Disend, chief executive officer of Redscout, a branding firm owned by MDC Partners says “Marketers have to work harder to get attention nowadays, but the more they try, the riskier it becomes.” And while there is some truth in this sort of marketing tactic, Sarah Murnen, a psychology professor at Kenyon College in Ohio, is using the ad as a teaching tool in her Gender Studies classes.
Murmen was quoted by the Washington Post. “The way he’s looking at her,” she said, “is definitely in a leering manner. And is saying ‘best friend’ supposed to make them gender-equal?” And she notes that the two people in the ad appear to be in holiday attire, perhaps at an office party?
“And what is this?” she asked. “Some kind of business function they’re attending? This is the way we’re going to treat women in the workplace?” She adds, “It’s sending the message that it is it okay to have sex with people who are incapable of consent. These are decisions that should be made consciously and willingly.”
There has been an ongoing discussion most of the year about rape in this country, with the Department of Education investigating at least 106 universities over their handling of sexual violence cases. Bloomingdale’s is the second large company this year to face allegations of promoting rape. In April, Bud Light took a great deal of heat for their tacky label that read: “The perfect beer for removing ‘no’ from your vocabulary for the night.”
