“Childhood is a public, social bulwark that transcends cultures and borders. More than disruption, the campaign of this fashion company borders on stupidity. As a communication professional, this ‘creative idea’ would never have left the desk of whoever designed it”, he points out.
For Juan Manuel Ramírez Belloso, marketing expert, director and professor of the postgraduate division of the Banking and Commercial School (EBC), it is a poorly supervised campaign. Monetarily it means losing money, but from the qualitative sphere the perception of the brand is neglected. In his promise and experience he leaves aside the context that is lived in the world, he says.
Data from the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) indicates that in Mexico there are more than 12,300 Internet accounts that display child pornography. This places the country as the first place in the world in the dissemination of these materials, according to the United Nations (UN) and the United States Department of Security.
“If you are going to run a campaign that has to do with any sector of society, you have to investigate the good and the bad that is happening today. What I see here is the big mistake of not having understood the context of something so delicate, ”she comments.
The controversial ads, which have since been withdrawn, promoted Balenciaga’s Spring/Summer 2023 collection. One of the photos showed a boy holding a bear that was dressed in wrist and ankle straps and with a padlock and chain around its neck.
“We sincerely apologize for any offense our holiday campaign may have caused. Our stuffed bags should not have been featured with children in this campaign. We have immediately removed the campaign from all platforms,” the company posted on Instagram.
For Rafael Martínez, CCO and co-founder of the Mayúscula agency, this goes beyond an oversight. It is a politically incorrect initiative, he points out. “It is very difficult to believe that they have not noticed these icons for which the campaign went viral. I find it incredible because when you present a campaign, especially a global one, it goes through many approvals and many eyes, from the most junior even the most senior”.
The second chapter of the story
After the apology, Balenciaga sued the producer North Six and the set designer Nicholas Des Jardins, allegedly responsible for the disaster caused, and also demanded compensation of 25 million dollars for the damage caused to his image.
However, in construction and brand reputation, this action is not the most appropriate or the most recommended. A brand that makes a mistake has to accept that it was wrong. Trying to pin down responsibilities looks very bad publicly.
“If you hired an agency or not, that doesn’t matter to people. It is easier to go out and say that those who made the disaster are being punished, but instead of helping your brand, you harm it. If they had already watered it, they watered it twice”, points out Ramírez Belloso.
Amílcar Olivares, senior director of Corporate Communication and Risk Management at the LLYC consultancy, agrees with him. “They wanted to wash their hands of it, but what works best in a crisis is to tell the truth. Lying hits more on the reputation of the brand as in this case”.
In all his media training or crisis drills, Olivares begins with a quote from Warren Buffett: “We can afford to lose money, even a lot of money. But we cannot afford to lose reputation, not even a little reputation.”
“It is much more expensive to repair reputation than to win any lawsuit or have any financial compensation. It takes a long time to build a company’s reputation and positive image, it is a job of time, not money, ”she points out.
As a sign of the impact on the brand’s reputation is the collateral damage to Gvasali. This year, Business of Fashion I would recognize him with the award Global Voices during his annual event, but after controversy his award was rescinded.
On Instagram, the fashion outlet said that for them the safety of children is their first priority and they continue to seek answers as to how the disturbing images were approved and published.
Kim Kardashian’s response
Following criticism of Balenciaga, its ambassador Kim Kardashian said she was evaluating whether to continue her relationship with the brand. “As a mother of four children, I have been shaken by the disturbing images,” she said on Twitter. “Children’s safety must be held in the highest regard and any attempt to normalize child abuse of any kind should have no place in our society, period.”
For Valadez, the position of the socialite is adequate, since the most important asset that a influencers It’s your credibility, just like your reputation. If not pronounced, her image would also have been affected.
“I don’t see the rudest rapper being an ambassador for a company that uses the image of minors, to associate them with sexual themes such as Bondage, Discipline, Domination, Submission, Sadism and Masochism. Kim is very clear that she is a brand and is trying to take care of her image, ”he mentions.
However, Olivares has another reading. There is a change in the way of conceiving reputation and it has to do with meeting expectations. “The reasoning would be: act based on what is expected of you. In the case of Kim, this happened halfway, because he did pronounce himself, after eleven days; however, she did not take a firm stance on her future relationship with the brand.”
For the experts consulted, today it is very difficult for a influencers wants to be associated with brands that, explicitly or hidden, violate children. Children are a highly used and valued resource in advertising. They are a natural attraction that excites and makes many campaigns memorable. This is a good example of how not to do it.