High end fashion brand, Balenciaga,
is apologizing after running an ad campaign
featuring children holding a stuffed bear,
stuffed animal, but the stuffed animal
purses are outfitted with bondage gear.
But why?
How about you just make a good product and
don't mess around with weird ad campaigns like this.
People don't like that, don't like it.
And I hate that it provides fodder for
right wingers who already think that everyone's sexualizing the kids.
Shot by photographer Gabriel Galimberti.
Do you know him John?
[LAUGH] >> Do you think I'm gonna know
any of the or nouns or proper nouns in the story?
[LAUGH] >> I mean he sounds Italian,
I'm just saying, he's your brother [LAUGH].
All right, let's move on, let's move on.
This is a serious story.
So images linked to the Balenciaga gift shop campaign featured these
young children dressed in the Balenciaga kid line.
I feel like I'm pronouncing Balenciaga wrong, whatever.
According to the original press release issued last week,
the campaign iterates on the artist's series, Toy Stories,
an exploration of what people collect and receive as gifts.
The company said that the line featured dozens of new products ranging
from homeware, petwear, and scent, from everyday items to limited
edition collectibles and bespoke furniture, we need to tax the rich.
But the ad release also got negative reactions with people accusing
the company or the brand of sexualizing children.
So the stuffed bears appear to be accessorized with bondage and
BDSM gear such as studded leather harnesses and collars with rocks.
So we've got examples, and look, on one hand in terms of like
what the kid understands, I highly doubt these adorable kids
realize that they're holding a bear that's dressed in bondage.
But I see the point about like this is not good.
Having kids in an image that features bondage accessories is not a good idea,
I don't like it.
>> Yeah.
>> And I can see why people would have a problem with it.
I have a problem with it.
But I don't know, maybe I'm being a prude here John, what do you think?
>> I think nothing that this company has done has ever mattered
to me that this won't then nothing they do in the future.
It's convenient to the right to be able to point to this and
say that this is sexualizing of kids and
we should be worried about it to advance their political agenda.
When of course they've had no issue with Donald Trump salivating over little kids
his whole life or whatever or
the stuff that he had to say about Ghislaine Maxwell, again, very convenient.
I don't care what high fashion companies do.
They are to me among the most irrelevant companies in literally any area
of human existence.
They can do whatever they want, they're weirdos, all their ad campaigns are weird.
Is this really any weirder than the others?
But I will say just to give the right more to get mad about,
I have no interest in the kids having the bondage bear, it looks weird, and
the kids honestly don't even seem to be enjoying the toys in yet.
>> [LAUGH] true.
>> So they seem bored with it honestly, and they appear to understand S and
M culture as little as most people do.
But also can we point out that as weird as it is to have them holding that,
like we have little kids play with soldiers constantly,
we fetishize people whose entire job is murder.
They're fine with that.
Also, by the way, tons of dolls and toys are dressed up in ways that
are supposed to be conventionally attractive and are sexualized.
So this particular subcultures like stuff that's supposed to be attractive is weird,
but the shorts and high heels isn't weird.
>> John, you nailed it.
>> Like what?
Just because this doesn't turn you on, it's worse.
I don't know.
>> Remember when the right wing including but not limited to Tucker Carlson.
>> You're gonna say it.
>> Simultaneously had a meltdown because
the sexy green Eminem was being stripped of her go-go boots and
they were being replaced with less sexualized sneakers.
Like sporty- >> No, Anna,
Tucker Carlson just had the same request as Kanye West.
Give me a candy, I can f [LAUGH].
>> [LAUGH] >> That's all he wanted.
>> No, but it's so true.
And as you're making your excellent point, I couldn't help but
think about the toys I played with when I was growing up.
I mean I loved barbies.
Barbie is hyper, I mean, especially in that era-
>> Yeah.
>> Barbies were hyper sexualized- >> Yeah.
>> Super sexualized.
I mean they're trying to be a little better.
I was at a store the other day and I noticed barbies on the shelf and
I noticed that their body type is a little more still not realistic, but
getting a little bit closer to realistic, but the dolls are still, anyway, yeah.
Anyway, I wanna finish up the story though because there are some more details here
that I think are worth talking about.
So the photographer insists that he is not to blame.
He said he had no influence over the products and models,
which by the way, I believe the photographer.
A photographer has no control over the products that are being sold by
Balenciaga, and he also has no control over what their ad campaign is.
But he has issues with some of the criticism.
He says, I suspect that any person prone to pedophilia searches on the web and
has unfortunately a too easy access to images completely different than mine,
absolutely explicit in their awful content.
Lynching like these are addressed against wrong targets and
distract from the real problem, the criminals.
So he's Italian, calm down John, okay, calm down.
It's a little bit of broken English there, but we get what he's trying to say there.
And I think he makes a decent point.
I mean- >> For an Italian, yeah, decent.
>> Shots fired- >> [LAUGH].
>> On your brethren.
Still Balenciaga apologized on Instagram saying we sincerely apologize for
any offense our holiday, it's a holiday campaign John campaign.
>> That's [CROSSTALK], which holiday?
>> Are they trolling right wingers?
I feel like this is just trolling them at this point.
They decided to make this their holiday campaign, it's amazing.
Our plush bear bags should not have been featured with children in this campaign.
We have immediately removed the campaign from all platforms.
You guys are so full of crap.
Really? >> [INAUDIBLE] was theirs.
>> Who are you [CROSSTALK].
You guys have complete control over the campaign, what do you mean?
It wasn't your intent to have children modeling the bags, what?
And by the way, okay, I doubt that anyone who needs to hear this message is
watching the show, but I'm gonna say it anyway.
Rich women who might be tempted to buy these God awful bags,
what's wrong with you, grow up.
Really, you're gonna buy a stuffed bear in bondage as your purse?
It's stupid.
It's stupid, that's it.
It's stupid, the bag is stupid.
>> Bags the rich.
>> [LAUGH] So stupid.
Why do rich people have the worst sense of style?
I want to know.
Like Yeezys, those shoes are God awful, they're so ugly.
And people will fight physically to get their hands on it.
I don't know if that's still the case, but I was like, really?
You guys like those Spice Girl platform sneakers, that's what you're into now?
All right, have at it, enjoy.
>> Yeah, again, the rich are generally terrible.
Not all of them as people pointed out, Dolly Parton is rich,
she's done a lot of good.
There are some good rich people, but
generally they're at least suspect if not actively making everything worse.
>> Another aspect of the advertisement featured an image of Balenciaga's
handbag laid atop a stack of documents.
A close examination reveals the documents referred to a Supreme Court
ruling that upheld a law that criminalizes child sexual abuse images.
They later apologized for that too and said-
>> It's accident.
>> That they would be taking legal action.
We apologize for displaying unsettling documents in our campaign.
We don't know who did it.
I mean, we have complete control over our ad campaigns.
He didn't write that, but nonetheless, let me continue.
We take this matter very seriously and are taking legal action against
the parties responsible for creating the set and
including unapproved items for our spring 23 campaign photo shoot.
We strongly condemn abuse of children in any form.
We stand for children's safety and well-being, okay.
Look, trying to throw other people under the bus for
bad decisions that you guys made is pathetic.
It's very reminiscent of Jimmy Dore blaming the fact that he's lazy,
and stupid, and doesn't bother reading a damn thing for
the misleading garbage that he spews on his show.
When he got caught, he blamed a producer, and
said he was gonna fire the producer right away.
That's what this whole Balenciaga blame game reminds me of.
Own up to your mistakes, it was a bad ad campaign idea,
accept responsibility, and move on.