Balenciaga Apologizes After Being Blasted Over Ad Showing Children Holding Teddy Bears in Bondage

The luxury fashion house is apologizing after they came under fire for an ad which shows children holding teddy bears purses dressed in bondage gear. But if the teddy bears seemed like a relatively innocent, though tasteless choice, an image of a Supreme Court opinion in a child pornography case was not-so-discreetly placed in the ad as a prop.

Balenciaga is going out of style.

The fashion house created an ad campaign featuring children holding teddy bear handbags dressed in bondage gear, and an image of a Supreme Court opinion on a child pornography case as a prop for the ad campaign's photoshoot.

The Spanish-turned-French label took to Instagram to apologize for their campaign since they had recently departed Twitter, an action which may have been the result of the new CEO Elon Musk’s decision to make child exploitation his first priority.

“We sincerely apologise for any offense our holiday campaign may have caused,” the statement read. “Our plush bear bags should not have been featured with children in this campaign. We have immediately removed the campaign from all platforms.”

“We apologise for displaying unsettling documents in our campaign,” the company added. “We take this matter very seriously and are taking legal action against the parties responsible for creating the set and including unapproved items for our Spring ‘23 campaign photoshoot.”

“We strongly condemn the abuse of children in any form,” they continued. “We stand for children safety and well-being.”

Despite the fashion house’s statement, critics across social media are dragging the campaign for being “disgusting.”

“I thought people were trolling, but nope. It’s real. Maybe this is why Balenciaga left Twitter. They don’t want to be held accountable. Yes, these are children holding teddy bears dressed in bondage outfits,” one Twitter user fumed.

I thought people were trolling, but nope. It’s real. Maybe this is why Balenciaga left Twitter. They don’t want to be held accountable. Yes, these are children holding teddy bears dressed in bondage outfits. pic.twitter.com/zBlACUiZjo

— Sav! (@thisissavvy1) November 21, 2022

The photoshoot was on the company's website as a part of a campaign named “Toy Stories” featuring child models posing with the plush handbags for their Paris Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2023 collection. Balenciaga deleted all posts related to the campaign on their Instagram account.

“The Balenciaga ad is disgusting. Toddlers posing with BDSM sex toys and alcohol. Hiding in plain sight a Supreme Court case involving a federal child porn law… Stop sexualizing kids to sell your ugly overpriced crap,” said another Twitter user.

The Balenciaga ad is disgusting. Toddlers posing with BDSM sex toys and alcohol. Hiding in plain sight a Supreme Court case involving a federal child porn law… Stop sexualizing kids to sell your ugly overpriced crap. #Balenciaga pic.twitter.com/hTNJ4TD6od

— Alison H.Centofante (@AlisonHowardC) November 21, 2022

There is NO acceptable reason to be exposing children to BDSM. The court document in the ad appears to be a case known as ‘Free speech coalition vs Ashcroft’ (look it up) this is sick & now Balenciaga has deleted all post on IG & changed the photo on the site. More info in thread https://t.co/EBQqk1POXL

— Tori Nicks 2.0 🛰 (@MajestyRia) November 21, 2022

"Frightening how many adults must have been involved in this," one Twitter user mused. "Parents, photographers, creative directors, copywriters, design agency staff, producers, managers, advertisers... and not one of them thought, 'hang on a minute?'"

The campaign also showed images of court documents concerning the Ashcroft v Free Speech Coalition, a 2002 case in which the court struck down a portion of the Child Pornography Prevention Act (CPPA) of 1996, and ruled that “virtual” child pornography is protected speech, such as the award-winning films such as the 1968 adaption of “Romeo and Juliet.”