It was just one Facebook/Instagram post among many, but Bugaboo's pairing of a running stroller and a bikini-clad fashion model has sparked plenty of laughter and derision from its target market.
In the photo, 23-year-old Dutch model Ymre Stiekema is seen running with her 2-year-old daughter while wearing what appears to be a black-and-white bikini—you know, the sort of thing moms always go running about the neighborhood in.
Immediately after it was posted, the photo became a flashpoint, as (mostly) moms began attacking and defending the model, along with the outfit they put her in. The debate is mostly about how women's bodies are portrayed in advertising—and actually, it's the subgenre of the conversation, about unrealistic expectations surrounding post-partum figures where the goal is to look like you've never been pregnant at all.
Allow me to summarize the arguments against:
1. This woman's body looks unrealistic. We want realistic depictions of women.
2. She is also posed/behaving in an unrealistic manner.
3. How can you expect women to buy your product if they can't relate to the images you're displaying?
And the arguments for:
1. You are all just jealous haters.
2. It is too a realistic depiction for the target marketing of women who are avid runners and can afford an $800 (yes) stroller.
I just gave birth to my second child a couple of weeks ago, and yeah, I understand the feels—from intense personal pressure to bona-fide self-loathing—you can have when you look at a Prada model running in a bikini behind a stroller. As an advertiser, I could also recognize why you'd hire the most attractive person you could find to hawk your goodies and sex up the pictures to whatever socially acceptable amount you can get away with.
So, it comes down to deciding which makes your brand happier: a plethora of negative attention, or a smattering of positive. Because people pay a lot less attention when you give them an ordinary, realistic depiction of anything.
Of course, these sorts of images are so everyday, it can be hard to even muster a frustrated comment. And when you see yet another difficult-to-obtain image, maybe the only thing you can do is laugh. Which is probably why the comments with the most likes are the jokes, including the highest-ranking one: "I prefer running naked with my children."
Check out more from the Facebook thread below. And yes, it seems Bugaboo only replied to the person who asked about the stroller's suspension system.