Fashion brand Calvin Klein's new ad campaign features a pregnant transgender man. The campaign, released on Mother's Day, sparked a debate on social media. The post “spotlighted the realities of new families”.
Roberto Bete and Erika Fernandes were among those featured in the campaign. Roberto Bete is a female-to-male transgender reality TV star from Brazil.
The post mentions Roberto Bete's pregnancy. And, it also states that the two are expecting the birth of their son Noah “any day now”. The caption read, “Today, in support of women and mothers all over the world, we're spotlighting the realities of new families…Erika Fernandes and Roberto Bete are expecting parents from Brazil. Roberto is due to give birth to his and Erika's son Noah any day now.”
The post also contains another image of the couple in bed, with Roberto Bete cradling the baby bump. On the photo is the text, “We can reproduce biologically or from the heart… Our place is to love and be loved.”
Within no time, the post went viral on social media. Several users praised the fashion brand for its inclusive messaging. A user said, “So so beautiful.”
A person called Calvin Klein “such a great brand” and added a heart emoji.
“This is so so cool,” read one of the reactions.
However, on Twitter, a slew of transphobic comments followed. Many threatened to boycott the brand and attacked the “woke campaign". A user shared the image of the couple and said, “Time to ditch you, Calvin Klein.”
A user lashed out at transphobic users and those attacking a campaign “celebrating the diversity of families for (US) Mother's Day.” The tweet read, “It's not a new concept, and neither is the bigoted backlash.” The person went on to add, “It's shocking that regressive Conservatives haven't moved on in the last 50+ years, from when Saatchi & Saatchi launched the iconic “pregnant man” ad promoting contraception.”
See the thread here:
Responding to the backlash, Calvin Klein stood its ground and reiterated the brand aimed at inclusivity. The company said, “We embrace this platform as an inclusive and respectful environment for individualism and self-expression. At Calvin Klein, we tolerate everything except intolerance— any intolerant commentary will be removed, and any accounts issuing hateful statements may be blocked.”
