• Last week, Balenciaga apologized for its recent ad campaign, which accused of sexualizing children.
• TikTokers have vandalized Balenciaga products on social media to protest and boycott the brand.
• One TikToker said she threw away a $1,035 pair of sunglasses.

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TikTokers are filming themselves burning, cutting up and throwing away Balenciaga products to protest the brand’s controversial Christmas ad campaign, which has children holding teddy bear bags containing what appear to be bondage gear.

Balenciaga apologized and removed the ads from social media on November 22 after they were accused of sexualizing young children.

In a social media statement, the brand wrote: “We sincerely apologize for any offense our Christmas campaign may have caused. Our plush bear bags should not have been featured with children in this campaign.” The brand added that it strongly condemns “abuse of children in any form”.

Online users continue to speak out against Balenciaga on social media following the brand’s apology. The hashtag #cancelbalenciaga has 70 million views on TikTok, where people are discussing their thoughts on the controversial images.

They are also now publicly destroying or discarding their own Balenciaga products.

A user with 65,000 followers, whose name is Gianna C. Avalos, was seen in a video posted Nov. 28 cutting up a black leather bag that she says cost $1,500 when she bought it from Balenciaga.

“This is basically my everyday bag. It won’t be anymore,” she said in the clip as she trimmed the straps with scissors.

She told Insiders that she wants to use her platform to address the issue.

“I think as an influencer it’s important not to lose sight of the gravity of our voice on the platform that holds our followers. We can either use that voice to raise awareness or remain silent,” she said, adding, “There’s a reason I didn’t throw away, repurpose, donate, or sell the bag. I no longer wanted that bag to have a place in our society.”

British TikToker Chloé Hennessey posted a similar video on November 27, which has garnered 1.2 million views, in which she cuts up a blue Balenciaga sweater and throws away a bunch of other items she said she got from the brand, including what appear to be a pair of LED sunglasses that retail for $1,035 in the US, which she had bought just a day earlier.

Hennessey, who gave birth to a baby boy last year, said that as a mother she found it “really disgusting” to see children being so sexualized and exploited.

Most of the commenters under Hennessey’s video said they supported her decision to toss the products, but a top comment with 1,000 likes suggested that TikToker should have donated the items instead.

“In general I find the abandonment culture really annoying, but in this case I think there’s a good reason,” Hennessey told Insider, adding, “If I gave it to a homeless person or to a charity, someone somewhere will still get Balenciaga.” walk around and represent that brand.”

“I would feel really uncomfortable if someone were to wear Balenciaga around me and know that what they actually did is so widespread,” she said.

Alexis Adjei, a lifestyle TikToker with 6,000 followers who filmed herself throwing away a row of Balenciaga-branded clothes in front of 3.8 million viewers, made a similar statement in a statement to Insider.

“It belongs in the bin,” she said, adding, “I think anyone who is angry, upset, upset or disappointed by Balenciaga’s actions has every right to feel how they are doing.”

Destroying controversial brands’ products has become a popular form of online activism to protest and engage in a boycott against them.

In April, insiders reported that Russian influencers cut up Chanel bags on camera after the luxury fashion house banned them from buying its wares following Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

More recently, in October, a Florida man named Danny Schiff posted a series of TikToks burning 10 pairs of Yeezy shoes, the brand founded by Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, to campaign against the rapper’s anti-Semitic remarks protest.

— Kim Kardashian (@KimKardashian) November 27, 2022

A number of celebrities have spoken out against Balenciaga in the wake of the controversy, including Kim Kardashian, who said she was “disgusted and outraged” by the recent ads on Twitter post from November 27th. She told her followers in the statement that she is currently “reevaluating” her relationship with the brand, having previously appeared in Balenciaga ads and has also worn the brand to red carpet events.

Kering — the French luxury goods company that owns Balenciaga — didn’t immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.