The Multiracial Advocacy Blog-Update on Bayo Fashion Campaign
Comment from Susan Graham: On behalf of the multiracial community, I am so pleased to see that our advocates spoke out against this fashion advertising campaign and made a difference! GREAT JOB!
Bayo drops controversial mixed-race campaign
Women’s fashion brand Bayo will pull its new “What’s Your Mix?”
advertising campaign after drawing flak for appearing to promote the
superiority of mixed-race models, the company announced yesterday.
ABS-CBN News
reports that Bayo vice president for product research and development
Lyn Agustin apologized for the campaign after the backlash from ads that
featured mixed-race models and a manifesto that claimed that the
“mixing and matching of different nationalities with Filipino blood is
almost a sure formula for someone beautiful and world class.”
“We are very sorry that the campaign unintentionally offended people,” Agustin said. “We are going to prepare a better and more sensitive campaign, more sensitive to the big issues.”
The advertising campaign drew indignation from numerous internet outlets, with the majority of the discussion appearing on Facebook and on blogs. Rappler notes that the campaign seemed to imply that one must be mixed-race in order to be “ideal”.
The breakdown of the percentage
of the models’ races (60% African, 40% Filipino; 80% Chinese, 20%
Filipino; 30% Indian, 70% Filipino) drew disdain from bloggers, with
Marcelle Fabie questioning the mathematics involved.
Numerous image macros were created to mock the ad, featuring Kris Aquino (99% Mouth, 1% Sense), German Moreno (50% German, 50% Moreno, 0% Tulugan), Bernardo Bernardo (50% Bernardo, 50% Bernardo), an explicit illustration of a manananggal (50% Filipino), as well as pop culture characters such as Captain Planet, Robocop, and Joffrey Baratheon.
Bayo's official statement is as follows:
Source: POC: Philippino Online Chronicles
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