OPINION | This article contains commentary that reflects the author's opinion.
Swimwear company Moana faced backlash for featuring a man in an ad for women’s bikinis, with critics arguing it did not empower women and gave men power over them.
Despite the criticism, Moana defended its decision, emphasizing its inclusivity and empowerment of all genders and body types.
The company dismissed detractors as having a “you” problem and stated that it’s impossible to please everyone.
“OBSESSED WITH THIS LOOK,” Moana wrote.
“Sorry but Moana, this is not how you empower women,” one woman wrote. “This is once again giving men the power over us and saying they do it better.”
“Why can’t men be men? I’m over this narrative,” another said.
“This is bad advertising if the target audience is women. A man wearing a piece designed for women….not going to make most women want to buy it,” yet another wrote.
“Will never ever buy here again! This is a disgrace to women!” one commenter wrote.
“Lol apparently your marketing team learned nothing from Budweiser or targets major loss. Hopefully it was worth the loss in revenue,” one comment read.
“If Jake in our bikini upsets you that much we feel as though this may be a ‘you’ problem,” Moana commented back.
“We find it quite absurd that people would cherry-pick this one individual post from our 13 years of business to make a wild statement about us not being empowering to women,” the company stated.
“Moana Bikini are — and have always been — one of the most inclusive and empowering brands in existence. This is not only in terms of our size and style range for women, but — most importantly — in our love and acceptance of all races, ethnicities, body shapes and sizes, genders and sexual orientations,” one spokesman stated, noting, “This hasn’t changed and never will change.”
“Many commenters are using the excuse that they believe it is ‘insulting to women’ when, in reality, it’s quite clear they are homophobic and have an issue with someone expressing their sexuality proudly and confidently,” the company added.
“We’re happy to receive and hear people’s feedback — both negative and positive. But we’re not here to please everyone. That’s an impossible task. If people aren’t happy with this individual post of a proud gay man wearing a piece of clothing he feels confident in, they can just keep scrolling or unfollow, can’t they?”
“Imagine living a life where you choose to be offended by something and stick around, comment, and engage only to make yourself more and more angry,” the statement added.
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