Harry Styles and Gucci under fire for Balenciaga-like ad campaign that ‘screams pedo’

In the eyes of many, Harry Styles and luxury fashion brand Gucci seem to be channeling their inner Balenciaga in a new ad that features a teddy bear among other things.

In the ad, Styles is wearing a t-shirt with a teddy bear on it while posing with what critics insist is a toddler bed. The message on his shirt reads, “I want more berries and that summer feelin.’”

“A performance piece starring #HarryStyles and the #GucciHAHAHA collection,” the official Gucci account tweeted while sharing photos of the ad.

 

The ad is fresh on the heels of the controversial Balenciaga ad featuring toddlers posing with teddy bears in bondage — for what it’s worth, Gucci and Balenciaga are owned by the same parent company, Kering Group.

Balenciaga came under serious fire for ads featuring young children with plush “BDSM-inspired” teddy bears and apologized profusely over what the brand characterized as a “wrong choice.”

“We would like to address the controversies surrounding our recent ad campaigns,” Balenciaga said in a statement. “We strongly condemn child abuse; it was never our intent to include it in our narrative.”

“The two separate ad campaigns in question reflect a series of grievous errors for which Balenciaga takes responsibility,” the company added.

How soon, if ever, an apology from Gucci can be expected remains to be seen… here’s a quick sampling of responses to the story from Twitter: