In the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, many brands are being extra cautious in their marketing efforts, fearing they may inadvertently trigger political incorrectness or racial discrimination issues. Examples include Johnson & Johnson discontinuing their whitening and spot removal products, and L’Oreal removing words like “whitening” and “fair” from their products. Recently, Calvin Klein invited 9 LGBTQIA+ individuals to shoot a “#PROUDINMYCALVINS” Pride Month promotional video, aiming to showcase acceptance of diverse sexual orientations and support for the LGBTQ community. However, this unexpectedly sparked controversy.
Calvin Klein has already hired 9 LGBTQIA+ individuals to shoot a major ad before the Black Lives Matter movement even started, and released the first “#PROUDINMYCALVINS” video featuring Black transgender person Jari Jones on their official YouTube channel before May 15th. The video mainly tells the story of how her transgender identity has helped transgender children who have come to New York to start and adapt to their new lives.
I didn’t expect that this would lead to a series of controversies. In mid-June, after the “Floyd” incident, a giant billboard featuring Jari Jones appeared on the streets of New York. She even took a photo with the billboard and uploaded it to Twitter with the hashtag “#BlackTransLivesMatter,” sparking a heated discussion. Some people supported Calvin Klein’s move, while many others expressed their disapproval, feeling that the ad lacked aesthetic appeal and that the brand’s choice of Jari Jones was overly politically correct. A user named “OhBondageUpYours” posted: “This is the opposite of inclusivity. Choosing this model is like ticking off many correct answers at once (Jari Jones being Black, transgender, and plus-size), so you think that by doing this, you can address everything at once. This is all just for marketing purposes rather than genuine inclusivity.”
Misfortunes never come alone. When Chinese media reposted this news, the content was mistakenly spread as Calvin Klein signing Jari Jones and 9 other LGBTQIA+ models (when in fact it was just for the “#PROUDINMYCALVINS” campaign), along with doubts about maintaining an overly politically correct image, causing the incident to escalate. Although this news was later clarified, and further indicated that the ad was shot before the Black Lives Matter movement, with the sole purpose of supporting Pride Month and giving voice to the LGBTQIA+ community, many people still remain skeptical.
Calvin Klein further expressed a firm stance, stating that all hateful and aggressive comments will be deleted, and related accounts will be blocked. In fact, looking back at the brand’s history, most of the models they have used have been selected according to mainstream aesthetics, such as Kendall Jenner, Hailey Bieber, and so on. It is only occasionally that they use models from minority groups, like this time. It just so happened that this advertisement was released at such a sensitive time, and Jari Jones happened to embody multiple identities, which sparked various controversies. However, regardless, the brand’s original intention to speak up for the LGBTQIA+ community is still commendable.
圖片及影片來源： @calvinklein , @iamjarijones , Calvin Klein YouTube , Pinterest
