During the cheerful holiday season of 2022, the popular designer brand Balenciaga released some not so cheerful holiday campaigns. The brand released two advertising campaigns that sparked widespread outrage and concern, as well as some serious damage to the brand’s image. Balenciaga’s campaigns landed them in the center of a social media crisis, which led to accusations of child exploitation and a significant amount of backlash from the public, as well as celebrities. This situation is a great example of how things can go very wrong when brands don’t think carefully about what they put out, and shows how important communication between the production and marketing teams needs to be. This incident also displays how crucial it is to respond right way when a crisis hits.

What Went Wrong?

The downfall started when Balenciaga released their campaign called the “Gift Shop” series. This series featured young children who were holding teddy bears and dressed up in outfits that resembled bondage gear. Understandably, people were shocked and angry at this choice, and stated that it was inappropriate and very disturbing to mix these images of children with anything even close or related to adult content, especially with a sexual theme. 

Balenciaga also released a second campaign, called the “Garde-Robe” campaign, which included the 2008 Supreme Court decision United States v. Williams (a ruling that upheld the judicial integrity of a prior child pornography conviction). They used this as a prop in their content, and it was placed under a handbag as part of the background, which was an odd and disturbing choice that made people even more upset.

You can read more here at People.com

The Public Reaction

As soon as the ads were published, social media started to blow up. From here, hashtags such as #CancelBalenciaga began to trend. People accused Balenciaga of being careless and of crossing lines, especially regarding the involvement of children. The backlash they received wasn’t just from regular users, but even celebrities got involved too.

One example includes Kim Kardashian, who had previously worked with Balenciaga for years. Kim stated on Twitter; “As a mother of four, I have been shaken by the disturbing images. The safety of children must be held with the highest regard, and any attempts to normalize child abuse of any kind should have no place in our society- period.” Kim Kardashian also stated that she would be reevaluating her working relationship with the brand. This added even more pressure on Balenciaga to explain what had happened.

Read more about the response with Cosmopolitan

How Balenciaga Responded

At first, Balenciaga apologized and claimed that they didn’t intend to send the wrong message. They said the photos were a mistake, and were not supposed to come across the way they did. The brand even filed a $25 million lawsuit against the production team behind the photo shoot, and then projected all the blame on them, saying that they were responsible.

However, the public was not impressed with their response, and many people felt that this was just an attempt to shift the blame. Because of this, the company was still receiving a lot of backlash. Eventually, after about a week, Balenciaga decided to send out a real apology, which should have been done much earlier. Balenciaga decided to drop the lawsuit as well, and the company’s creative director, Demna Gvasalia, ended up releasing a personal apology. He admitted that the campaign was a poor choice and he promised that the brand would be more careful moving forward.

In addition, Balenciaga said that they would change how they review and approve future campaigns to ensure alignment with corporate guidelines. They also promised to work with groups that protect children and promote safety.

You can read more details in this article by The Fashion Law

What Can We Learn From This?

This crisis shows how fast things can spiral out of control when brands don’t think thoroughly through their messaging. Balenciaga’s ads sparked outrage because they were careless and insensitive, especially when it came to sensitive topics like children’s safety.

So, what is the key takeaway from this case? Brands must pay attention to how their content will be received by their public audiences, and also take full responsibility when they make mistakes. Owning up, apologizing sincerely and in a timely manner, and showing a clear plan or change they will pursue to fix things can make all the difference in winning back the trust of the public and their consumers. However, in this age of social media, where everything you put out on the internet is permanent, what a brand does and how quickly it responds can have a major impact on its reputation. It will either harm or help them not only in the present, but also in the future.