Save 50% on a 3-month Digiday+ membership. Ends Dec 12.
A Calvin Klein post on Instagram is making people flash — with anger.
Yesterday, the clothing brand posted an upskirt photo of 22-year-old model Klara Kristen in her underwear with the caption “I flash in #mycalvins.”
Comments from the account’s 4.8 million followers poured in blasting the controversial ad for being a “fodder for pedophiles” since the picture makes the model appear underage.
Here’s the ad in question:
“DISGUSTING!!!!!!!! Promoting paedophilia. Get this REVOTING photo depicting a young child’s panties OFF!!!,” a follower wrote on the post, which garnered 1,300 comments (but 43,000 likes). Another person added: “I think this might be the most disgusting and misogynistic advert I’ve ever come across. Those in charge of this should be utterly ashamed.”
Other comments echoed the sentiment. One wrote that the ad promotes “misogyny, disrespect and patriarchal pseudo-paedophillia,” with the author adding, “this brand can do better so there’s no excuse.” Calvin Klein didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The ad is part of Calvin Klein’s bigger campaign, called “Erotica,” for its underwear featuring other female models including Kendall Jenner. In a different picture, Jenner is squeezing a juicy grapefruit, a double entendre for the obvious.
More in Marketing
‘A trader won’t need to leave our platform’: PMG builds its own CTV buying platform
The platform, called Alli Buyer Cloud, sits inside PMG’s broader operating system Alli. It’s currently in alpha testing with three clients.
Why 2026 could be Snap’s biggest year yet – according to one exec
Snap’s senior director of product marketing, Abby Laursen talked to Digiday about its campaign automation plans for 2026.
‘We just did the math’: The new baseline for ad tech transparency
Ad execs said the industry is shifting toward a renewed transparency push driven as much by day-to-day operational pressure as by principle.