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Women’s clothing brand Anthropologie is facing harsh criticism from customers following the company’s advertisement featuring a male model dressed up in female clothes.
On Thursday, Anthropologie uploaded a video on Instagram featuring the male model. The ad featured model Harper Watters, with the post saying, “Never anthro-pologize for being fabulous! Loving these #UnexpectedAndUnforgettable looks.” The post immediately came under condemnation from customers who slammed the brand for pushing a gender agenda. Anthropologie ended up disabling the comment section.
“Will Anthropologie be the latest brand to go broke over woke? Nothing about seeing men in women’s clothes makes me want to buy those clothes. I used to look forward to shopping at Anthropologie, but they just told me I’m not their desired customer base. Fine,” Libby Emmons, a writer at New York Post, said in an April 4 tweet.
Meanwhile, customers lashed out at the company in another Instagram post which featured female models in female clothes “Stop trying to erase women. I used to wear anthro because it made me feel like a beautiful WOMAN. I am shamed you went woke,” one user said on Instagram. People were also furious that Anthropologie chose to shut down comments in the post with the male model.
“It’s extremely disappointing that you don’t listen to your main customer base, women, whether or not you agree with what they say. You shutting down women from speaking shows that your company doesn’t care about women or customers,” another user commented.
“It’s a slap in the face to all women everywhere. I don’t want to contribute to that type of misogyny. I have been a loyal customer for years, but I’m done with Anthropologie. Women deserve better treatment than this.”
Comparison With Bud Light
Anthropologie’s attempt at using a male model for a female clothing brand also drew comparisons with Budweiser.
In April, Anheuser-Busch, the firm that makes Bud Light, sent custom beer cans to transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney featuring the person’s face as a promotional campaign. The move triggered a backlash from the company’s customer base—many of them accusing the firm of pushing a transgender agenda.
Mike Crispi, the former Republican New Jersey primary candidate for Congress, called for a boycott, while singer Kid Rock used Bud Light cans as a target practice to display his disapproval.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said that he would not drink Bud Light as he did not wish to enable “woke companies” that are “trying to change our country, trying to change policy, trying to change culture.”
“Smooth move @Anthropologie: schooled in the @Budweiser brand of customer depreciation,” psychologist Jordan B Peterson said in a May 5 tweet.
“Imagine being @Anthropologie. You know your audience is over 80 percent female. So you decide to market to them by putting your dresses on a man. Looks like they want the Bud Light treatment. Let’s give it to em,” Damani Felder, who runs The Right Brothers YouTube channel, said in a May 4 tweet.
The Epoch Times has reached out to Anthropologie for comment.
Blowback Against Woke Companies
While companies are trying to push left-wing ideologies onto their customer base, most citizens don’t want businesses to mix politics with their operations.
According to a poll by the Trafalgar Group and Convention of States Action (COSA), almost 80 percent of likely voters said that, given the choice, they were more likely to buy from a company that was politically neutral. That number includes more than 75 percent of both Democratic and Republican voters.
“This is a blowback that’s coming,” Mark Meckler, COSA president, told The Epoch Times. “It’s coming big time against all this woke politics in business. It’s not even that folks want their companies to reflect their politics; they want their companies, the people they buy from, to just ignore politics.”
Nonprofit Consumers’ Research launched a “Woke Alert” initiative that monitors companies pushing progressive and “dangerous ideas” and notifies people about such propaganda.
The alert service has exposed several major businesses, including Bud Light, Jack Daniels, Bank of America, NFL, WNBA, and BlackRock.
