Men’s underwear retailer Aussie Bum has had a number of people questioning the undie brand’s use of Indigenous themed images within its latest campaign.
And some social media users have wondered where the belly button is on the model who’s encased within the questionable underwear.
This is … well… erm…odd not to mention rather culturally insensitive. Clever marketing? #bellybuttongate https://t.co/9iCbWZpWqI
— SJ Hardie (@SJHardie) January 14, 2016
I’m concerned with @aussieBum‘s Australia Day underwear campaign. Where’s his belly button?!? #bellybuttongate pic.twitter.com/l2Grzy9Tf5
— Dr Brad McKay (@DrBradMcKay) January 12, 2016
@DrBradMcKay @aussieBum omg such an awkward photo of me!!! I hate not having a B-button ☹️
— mytmikenick (@Mike_Mytnick) January 13, 2016
Sean Ashby, CEO of Aussie Bum, said he’d had a couple of people email him about the use of the images.
He said it had been an “error in judgement” and the underwear has been withdrawn.
“We saw Australia Day as being inclusive of everyone. I received three emails from people in the Indigenous community about the campaign. They raised good points,” he told B&T.
“It was a naïve mistake, an error in judgement, we had just meant to be inclusive of everyone.”
With all the controversy surrounding Meat & Livestock Australia’s latest Australia Day ad – where the Ad Standards Bureau has received hundreds of complaints – Ashby had thought people were arguing just for argument’s sake.
“My attitude was everyone is being over-sensitive about things, but with this, we took a step back.”
And as to the model who’s apparently without belly button, Ashby said he hadn’t been photoshopped at all.
“I shot the campaign myself!” he said, quipping the team think he’s an alien of some sort.
