Balenciaga Takes Down Controversial Ads

On Tuesday, designer fashion brand Balenciaga took down ads after facing backlash about them being controversial. According to the New York Post, the ads “supported Balenciaga’s Spring/Summer 2023 collection, and showed two young girls posing with teddy bears that appear to be wearing BDSM-style harnesses.”

In a statement posted to Instagram later on Tuesday, Balenciaga wrote, “we sincerely apologize for any offense our holiday campaign may have caused. Our plush bear bags should not have been featured with children in this campaign. We have immediately removed the campaign from all platforms.” The company continued on to apologize for featuring a court case document in the photos as well, documents that “upheld part of a federal child pornography law.” The statement was ended by saying they “strongly condemn abuse of children in any form. We stand for children’s safety and well-being,” but many took to social media platforms, such as Twitter, to “cancel” and criticize the brand.