Burberry has conservatives scratching heads, rolling eyes, and threatening to boycott due to its latest campaign featuring a model who appears to have undergone a double mastectomy.
Days ago, the fashion house unveiled its “B:Mine” Valentine’s Day campaign. The romantic line showcases both heterosexual and gay couples expressing their love while wearing various Burberry goods. One man stands with another, hugging him from behind, while two Black women are seen locking lips. However, it was the image of an individual embracing her partner while showing the scars from a breast removal operation that angered the masses. An angry mob swarmed the brand’s Instagram comments, one user writing “Unfollow!!!!,” with another stating, “I’m throwing all of your products in the trash.”
Mastectomies are carried out for various reasons, the most common being to treat breast cancer. Many women also undergo the procedure as a preventative measure or when transitioning from female to male. Over 100,000 women in the United States undergo some form of mastectomy annually.
Some Twitter users felt that the ad was offensive to breast cancer survivors. Author Trevor Coult chimed in on the topic, slamming Burberry for promoting mastectomies on “physically healthy” women.
https://twitter.com/nomandates23/status/1618375019314417671
https://twitter.com/TrevorCoultMC/status/1618498509472399360
https://twitter.com/JoeyFromPhilly/status/1618357882650755073
The images are still up on Burberry’s social media platforms, so needless to say the company is unbothered by the backlash.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard of this brand before. On Googling it, I see that it makes what appears to be extravagantly-overpriced crap, that I would not ever be buying anyway. At the prices they charge, they surely cannot expect to sell very much of anything. Perhaps, for such a small market, they might actually find a benefit to catering to freaks and nutcases, rather than to human beings.