Not Your Usual 'Pretty in Pink'

You've heard of J.Crew- an ever-growing clothing business in the US that includes retail and outlet stores nationwide and a profitable online and catalogue business. Just like other clothing businesses, it's busy tapping on its market, promoting the latest trends in clothing but what's the buzz all about? Well, it all started with a direct mailer ad that shows some pink toenails, not from a little girl but from a little boy.

Let me give you some background- J.Crew sent out a mailer on April 5 featuring it's executive and designer Jenna Lyons with her pre-schooler son, Beckett wearing a grey-and-white Coastline stripe pullover. The photo shows Lyons smiling and looking at her son with such adoration. At the same time she's also holding her son's feet painted in bright pink Essie for J.Crew nail polish. The ad had a quote from Lyons saying, "Lucky for me, I ended up with a boy whose favorite color is pink."

Since the mailers were sent out, different groups expressed their opinions regarding this. Frankly, there's quite a variety of opinions ranging from the subtle to the outrageous ones. I looked at the ad first time around and honestly, it didn't bother me because I knew all along that it's a clothing ad trying to make a sale and promoting a line of J.Crew products. It only dawned on me later on how this ad affected other people. Let me take one as an example from moms.today.com:

Culture and Media Institute is targeting a new demographic - "mothers of gender-confused boys." Writes CMI’s Erin R. Brown:

J.CREW, known for its tasteful and modest clothing, apparently does not mind exploiting Beckett behind the façade of liberal, transgendered identity politics. One has to wonder what young boys in pink nail polish has to do with selling women's clothing.

Brown adds that the ad is part of something bigger:

Propaganda pushing the celebration of gender-confused boys wanting to dress and act like girls is a growing trend, seeping into mainstream culture. NBC’s Today show on January 3 featured a segment on the ‘Princess Boy’ in which five-year-old Dyson Kilodavis was seen twirling in pink ballerina tutu, much to the delight of his mother Cheryl and host Meredith Vieira.

After reading this, I never thought that this seemingly innocent J.Crew ad had taken on such different meanings and interpretations. A creative and artistic person myself, I appreciate the visual being presented and just that. I think it's a creative concept but I think what blew the fuse out from some people is the fact that the ad used a boy (or what others had said, 'exploited') and had his toenails painted pink. Looking at the photo again, I think that the message of a mother and her son bonding with each other is more emphasized in this ad rather than the son's toenails being painted pink (at least that's how I see it). But of course, after reading Lyon's quote, some people would interpret it differently.

Personally, I know of someone (a male at that) who was simply soaked by his mother's adoration. He had a photo taken when he was two years old, wearing a girl's dress (in bold red) and had his hair tied in a ponytail (just like Pebbles' in Flinstones). No one would ever suspect that the baby in the photo was a boy. His mom was a very responsible and loving parent. According to her, she just thought of dressing her boy in a girl's dress just for the fun of it and just that. Of course, that 'dressing up' happened only once. Just like this J.Crew photo, my friend's mom was looking at him with such fondness and adoration. And mind you, this photo of my very close friend was taken in the 1960s!

So my point is, if my friend's photo was used for an advertisement for millions of Americans to see, it would surely spark some extreme criticisms (or much worse than what this J.Crew ad received). It's a photo taken for its face value and nothing more. But of course, I am in no way defending J.Crew's side. When they were asked for a commnent regarding this controversy, they simply didn't comment. From a PR perspective, they could have taken a position and simply told the media why they came up with such a photo or ad concept. I believe it wouldn't hurt if they had taken a stand and honestly tell the whole world the truth; that would surely quell a lot of those harsh criticisms around including accusations that this ad was indirectly promoting cross-dressing among young boys, if that were the case.

If Lyons and her son's photo was originally meant for their own family album, it wouldn't hurt. It would just be a sweet keepsake that would remind the mother and her son of their sweet moments together. But obviously, this was a photo meant for commercial use- to be printed on an ad for a direct mailer and to be consumed by millions for the sake of selling a product. That's when seemingly innocent photos especially of young children become sensitive in the eyes of many,  especially when it's taken differently or used differently for purposes of advertising and consumerism. I believe that's when the fineline should have been drawn out because we still have our different audiences to consider and bear in mind. That's when we still have to be sensitive of what the social norms are. But since J.Crew was said to be targeting a new segment of their market, they have taken a very liberal move to capture that particular audience if what CMI was trying to claim was right.

Going back to my male friend, he's every inch of a man. He may not be openly proud of his photo dressed as a girl, but he was surely touched by his mom's attention. That's how I see the J.Crew ad and not focusing on the products being promoted. For me, it was simply a touching photo of a mom and her child. We can discuss this photo in great lengths and talk about the supposedly underlying message (or even propaganda), and even talk about transgendered identity politics, its negative effects on the child, etc. So for you, what do you think about this ad?... Does it even bother you?...How about the pink toenails on this boy?... Is it outrageous?... What about the quote given by the mom?.... I'd like to hear from you so give me your comments or you can discuss this with your friends or family and see what they have to say about it.