A Baskin Robbins Ad Got Hate For 'Sexualising' A Child Model
The child's mother was saddened that the public criticised the video in a "careless and combative way".
By Timothy Tuan — 03 Jul 2019, 04:34 PM
A South Korean Baskin Robbins advertisement recently received backlash for allegedly 'sexualising' an 11-year-old model
The video advertisement, which featured Instagram star and model Ella Gross, received backlash for the way it portrayed her.
The video was released on Friday, 28 June, in which Ella was promoting a new ice cream flavour, "Pink Star".
In the video, Ella was seen savouring the ice cream off a spoon in a sleeveless dress
The video also added milk and exploding elements while Ella enjoyed the ice cream.
South Korean netizens began accusing the company of involving sexual elements in a video where an 11-year-old girl was concerned.
According to NextShark, the company was also accused of making Ella look like a grown woman which was "weird and disgusting".
After receiving widespread criticism, the company took down the video and apologised to the public
“We have decided to stop sharing the video after our customers expressed discomfort with the image of Ella Gross in the commercial.
"From now on, we will try to become a brand that listens to diverse opinions and advice from our customers. Once again, we apologise to all customers of Baskin Robbins,” said the company as reported by NextShark.
Baskin Robbins also added that Ella wore clothes for a brand she models for and had only applied a typical amount of makeup for a child model.
Ella's mother, Wynne Gross has since responded to the backlash, saying that she is disappointed in the way the netizens perceived the video
Wynne was saddened that the netizens criticized the video in a 'careless and combative' way, adding that she is a mother, a title she takes pride and value of.
"Ella is a beautiful soul because she truly does not have any bad intentions. She is one of the most hard-working, strongest, sweetest, down to earth girls you will ever meet," Wynne said in an Instagram post yesterday.
"To those that are rallying against the Baskin Robbins commercial, stop saying that you are doing this 'for Ella'," she said, adding that Ella is loved and supported by many strong and powerful female figures.
According to Baskin Robbins, Ella's parents were involved in the discussions and were well aware of how Ella would be portrayed in the video.
She also told the netizens not to contradict themselves and to stop using Ella's pictures for the wrong reasons
Wynne found out that many netizens were using Ella's pictures to trash talk about her and her family instead of protecting and standing up for her.
"If you have time to come here, take her pictures and analyse my child, make better use of your time to really fight for what you claim to be fighting for," Wynne said in a different comment on her Instagram post.
After she made a post on Instagram about the backlash, a majority of the public showed their support and love towards Ella and her mother for standing up against the criticisms.
