It might only be September, but we’re going to go ahead an call it. The most cringe-worthy ad of 2016 belongs to Wrangler.
Released recently to the fashion label’s European customers, the More Than a Bum campaign features singer Kimbra and a group of professional women – inclduing journalist and transgender activist Paris Lees, to Olympic volleyball champion Francesca Piccinini – waxing lyrical about success and wanting to be judged for their talents rather than their bodies.
All seems fine, right? Admirable even. Until this happens:
Via Mic.
And this:
Yes, those are two of the multiple lingering shots of thin women's backsides in tightly fitting jeans.
To make matters more bizarre the clip intersperses these snaps with the women saying the word "bum", which somehow morphs into a strange butt song, that we... well, we don't even know where to begin.
Then, in a handy reminder that self worth need not be derived from your derriere, the sisterhood is spurred to take to social media with the hashtag #morethanabum.
Face, meet palm.
Needless to say, the audience isn't happy. Countless have vented their frustration about the patronising, paradoxical campaign on social media.
Wrangler has responded to the criticism, and in the process has then gone right ahead and made things a whole lot worse:
"Our Body Bespoke line was created around this idea: that a line of jeans engineered to look great on everyone's behind means women stop wasting time trying endless models on, so they can move on to what they really want to use their time and energy for," they wrote, according to Refinery29.
And it continues.
"We as women all want to look good, why deny that? But looking good should never be our main concern - and Wrangler designed the whole Body Bespoke line around precisely that…in this film we are being represented by women who have done many fascinating things with their time. Why not look at their story and not just at the images of their bums? That's what the film really wants to push you to do."
Right.
Listen: Mamamia Out Loud tackles the topic of fit-shaming.