Lock in a year of Digiday+ for 35% less. Ends June 5.
A bikini is perfectly acceptable attire for jogging while pushing your $800 stroller. At least that’s what Bugaboo believes.
The Amsterdam-based, high-end stroller maker garnered the outrage from moms online when it posted a picture to Facebook last week showing a svelte, bikini-clad model casually running in the park, buggy in tow — a completely normal thing to do.
“See how the model and mum Ymre Stikema stays fit and healthy with the Bugaboo Runner,” the caption reads.
It wasn’t long before the ad caught the ire of moms who verbalized their rolling eyes with sarcastic comments (428 and counting). “I prefer running naked with my children,” one woman wrote. “Seriously why in the world would she be running in this? Horrible promotion!!,” another person wrote. And then there’s this comment: “I can almost see her uterus…”
The Internet outrage cycle moved from backlash, to backlash against the backlash. Commenters said that others were just jealous about the 23-year-old’s fit figure. Haters gonna hate.
“Really ladies? Are you that judgemental or jealous that you have to question what she is running in? Women should support each other not tear each other down because you feel inadequate. I would never get away with wearing that while I run, but great for her!,” one woman wrote.
Bugaboo didn’t engage with the comments, except with one from a woman who was bothered, of all things, by the buggy’s wheels not being properly inflated. Bugaboo’s social media manager launched into action and explained that stroller’s “unique suspension system” ensures a smooth ride for the lil’ one. And for $800, it had better.
The company did, however, release a statement to NBC’s Today addressing the furor saying the stroller is designed “with active parents in mind” and that it believes “all parents should run free no matter where they are on their fitness journeys and what they choose to wear on their runs.”
Thanks @Bugaboo for reminding moms everywhere that they’re spectacular failures if they don’t look like your Bugaboo Runner model. Assholes.
— Kerry Godbout (@Hostilebear) July 27, 2015
The people upset about the #Bugaboo ad look nothing remotely like the woman in the ad, which is fine. Women come in all shapes/sizes.
— Moezy Poezy (@MiniatureMoe) July 27, 2015
More in Marketing
Overheard at IAB Tech Lab Summit: Tim Berners-Lee on the agentic web
The father of the web urges social platforms to stop building addictive products and to embrace an agentic future that values individuals over outcomes.
OpenAI turns on cost-per-action ads inside ChatGPT
Cost-per-action (CPA) is the first real sign that the platform is now embracing performance advertising.
Premier League gambling ban gives brand sponsors an open goal, but CMOs must still prove value
An exodus of betting brands from the Premier League means there’s a chance for marketers to bag cut-price soccer partnerships. But proving the worth of that investment is another concern.