Following an unsuccessful attempt by a tiktoker to cancel the fashion brand Coach under false pretenses, online users questioned cancel culture and criticized the unfair comparison to Balenciaga’s BDSM commercial featuring teddy bears next to children.
It started with a now-deleted TikTok shared by a social media useknown as hellyquinn on Tiktok, showing the Coach x Disney Villains collaboration at a store in Australia, saying “Am I seeing this right? Is this a joke? I thought this shit was over… I thought this would be something I would only see from Balenciaga.”
Disney villains such as Cruella de Vil, Ursula, Maleficent, and the Evil Queen are depicted on the leather bears that she pointed out.
Each bear does have a detachable collar with a Coach x Disney tag, but they are luxury collectibles rather than toys and are presumably not meant to invoke sexual connotations.
Online sales of the bears have since ended, although there are used ones left on eBay for second-hand purchases.
Helly urged her viewers to boycott Coach saying “We’ve boycotted that kind of disgusting child pornography crap. But I just… it’s there. It’s right there. I’m so uncomfortable right now,” said Helly further adding “I’ve only ever seen it online… But seeing it in real life, I am gutted. Like way worse.”
After many questioned her reasoning, she deleted the video attacking the brand and uploaded a follow-up video explaining her position and stating that there was “obviously something wrong with the teddy bears” despite many disagreeing.
Coach still didn’t address the matter.
Not many Twitter users sided with Helly, however, the majority said she was exaggerating and seeking attention.
In Balenciaga’s case, the brand was under fire after releasing a promotional campaign featuring a handbag placed on documents referencing a U.S. Supreme Court case about child sexual abuse and children holding teddy bears in BDSM pieces such as bondage gear, leather harnesses, collars, and locks, which is far from what Coach did with their collection, making the comparison unreasonable.
After being harshly called out, Balenciaga deleted all of the promotional pictures and addressed the matter in the form of an apology published in an Instagram story.
Helly said that what Coach did is the same as Balenciaga, “it’s just hidden and more subtle.”
Many commented under reposts of her video on Twitter saying that she chased quick fame by attacking the brand.
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