Happy Thanksgiving and a Merry Christmas. Time for date rape.
That's not a thought that any normal person would have, but for the people who work in Bloomingdale's advertising department, something similar must have been going through their minds to approve one of their newest magazine spreads. The photo features a well dressed woman laughing at some unknown joke, and a well dressed man looking at her with a serious face while she looks away. Nothing about this by itself seems seedy, but it's the caption that makes it all just too much to bear. It reads, "Spike your best friend's eggnog when they're not looking." Here's a photo of the ad, which appeared in their 2015 holiday catalog.
This Robin Thicke-looking character (remember 'Blurred Lines?') is staring at his best friend, and for me, a couple things come to mind. Apparently, Bloomingdale's thinks spiking someone's drink is fun. Apparently, no one in the advertising division has to report to their superiors before something can go to print. And most disturbing is that Bloomingdale's seems to have no idea about how real the dangers of date rape are for women (and men). 1 in 4 college-age women will be date-raped, or experience attempted date rape during their stay at a university. 74 percent percent of the committers of date rape, and 55 percent of the victims of date rape, are under the influence of alcohol. And survivors of date rape and assault are more likely than non-victims to commit suicide. But, by all means Bloomingdale's, spike your 'best friend's' drink.
Predictably, within hours the internet had caught wind of this ad, with Twitter users everywhere calling out Bloomingdale's for their insensitivity. Some people, like user Emma Kelly, took a hard stance on the ad.
Other users like user Jack Monroe took a cautionary stance on the ad, informing the world that under no circumstances is Bloomingdale's ad supposed to be taken as advice on how to conduct one's self.
Bloomingdale's issued an apology and won't use the article in any other capacity, but the problem is that it's already been posted. It's already in a magazine. It's already out there. Their apology, "We heard your feedback about our catalog copy, which was inappropriate and in poor taste. Bloomingdale's sincerely apologizes," is too little, too late. Bloomingdale's needs to learn from this, and so should other advertising agencies. There are some things that just aren't OK, and it's good that we as a society have banned together to finally say, "No, I will not stand for this."
