Bloomingdale's Apologizes For Holiday Ad Over Criticisms It Promoted Date Rape
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Bloomingdale's has issued an apology for a holiday catalog ad many readers found to be offensive.
"Spike your best friend's eggnog when they're not looking," the text of the ad reads, as its positioned on a page between a man and a woman. The woman is looking away from the man as he glares at her.
Pictures of the ad were circulated on social media and users immediately criticized Bloomingdale's for promoting date rape.
"That is absolutely horrifying. I remember looking at this and it was just - it's horrid, it normalizes acquaintance rape. the fact that they use the term 'best friend' is even worse, because 84 percent of rape victims knew their rapist," Stephanie Pham said.
Pham is a sophomore at Stanford, and founder of One in Five, a sex assault awareness group on campus.
The retailer took to Twitter to issue the apology.
We heard your feedback about our catalog copy, which was inappropriate and in poor taste. Bloomingdale's sincerely apologizes.
— Bloomingdale's (@Bloomingdales) November 10, 2015