The holidays bring with them a multitude of advertisements for delicious food, the coolest toys, and the most glamorous outfits for all the holiday parties you were probably, most definitely invited to. Like all the other major retailers, Macy's, Neiman Marcus, and Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale's followed suit and released their holiday catalog last week. Their decision was not as widely appreciated as anticipated, the holiday spirit was not forgiving of their slightly "date-rapey" advertisement. Take a look yourself.
Anyone in their right mind sees how this is inappropriate and cringe-worthy.
This picture made its rounds on social media quickly, and Bloomingdale's released a statement on Nov. 10 to Tech-Insider stating "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." The brand also tweeted an apology: "We heard your feedback about our catalog copy, which was inappropriate and in poor taste. Bloomingdale's sincerely apologizes."
But in April, another company got some heat for an advertisement that also had undertones of rape culture, the mega beer Bud Light.
Again, as a girl on a college campus, this slogan immediately strikes a chord with me. Of all the departments and people this idea would have been filtered through at AB-InBev, no one stopped and thought this sounded just a little inappropriate. This picture, again, made its rounds on social media and garnered a great deal of attention. On April 26, Alexander Lambrecht, Bud Light’s vice president, released a statement saying "It’s clear that this particular message missed the mark, and we apologize. We would never condone disrespectful or irresponsible behavior. No means no."
Now, I'm not naive enough to believe that no one in the corporate structures of Bloomingdale's or Bud Light didn't pick up on these rape culture connotations, but as a public relations major, I am surprised this type of advertisement wasn't stopped by their PR teams. Which would have avoided this type of negative publicity and having to employ crisis management for something that could have been avoided if someone would have just said "Hey, this doesn't sound like the best way to grab a customers attention." There is a fine line between edgy advertising and promoting sexual violence.
This brings us to Starbucks' recent controversy over their red cups. But this crisis is not on the hands of the company, it has been fabricated by the public. By having no images on the cup, Christians believe it means "they hate Jesus" and "they're removing Christmas from the season." It's not as if Starbucks put Hanukkah dreidels and menorahs, Kwanzaa kinara and mkeka, and a Festivus pole, but paid no attention to the Christian Christmas. They simply just stuck to a simple holiday color so as not to exclude any religion or assume everyone is religious.
Since this dispute is not valid or informed and the cups are not meant to be edgy or controversial, Starbucks has yet to release a statement, a smart move on their public relations team, to recognize when a complaint is logical or if it is just stirring the pot. Rather, some are suggesting that those who plan to boycott Starbucks donate their money they aren't spending on their daily coffee to underprivileged families this Christmas season.
But why talk about all this seemingly unrelated corporate controversies, other than to provide some very thoughtful public relations case studies? I write about these because the Starbucks cup has gotten far more attention and publicity than the Bloomingdale's ad and the Bud Light bottle. It shows where we put our values—how dare you attack my major world religion—while its okay to make light of rape, since "sex sells." As consumers, we must wisely select the companies which we believe most align with our own personal values and understand that our buying is a conscious decision that has an effect on society and who we give the power to.
On that light note, happy shopping and have a great Black Friday!
