NEW YORK, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- Bloomingdale's has apologized for an advertisement in its holiday catalog that some criticized as encouraging date rape.
The New York-based department store chain tweeted a brief acknowledgement of the ad, which featured the words, "Spike your best friend's eggnog when they're not looking," with a photo featuring a man looking at a distracted woman.
"We heard your feedback about our catalog copy, which was inappropriate and in poor taste," the company tweeted Tuesday. "Bloomingdale's sincerely apologizes."
We heard your feedback about our catalog copy, which was inappropriate and in poor taste. Bloomingdale's sincerely apologizes.
— Bloomingdale's (@Bloomingdales) November 10, 2015Several Twitter users deemed the ad "creepy" and even "horrific." Others have targeted the company's advertising team, pushing Bloomingdale's to fire them.
Fascinated that throughout the editing process, nobody suggested this Christmas ad is a bad idea #Bloomingdales pic.twitter.com/zUaNJnlK7y
— Lara DiamondPhillips (@Laradp) November 11, 2015"Fascinated that through the editing process, nobody suggested this Christmas ad is a bad idea," said one Twitter user of the thousands responding to the ad.
Filmmaker Jean Kilbourne told The Washington Post it's an example of how deeply ingrained sexism is in modern culture. "I doubt the person who created this was consciously thinking about sexual assault. Male or female," Kilbourne said.
"Whoever it was who came up with this -- and the many people who OK'd it -- just don't get it. Date rape is still a huge problem -- and yes, there's more attention to it paid to it than before, but not enough attention."
