Baskin Robbins is being accused of sexually exploiting an 11-year-old Korean American model in a commercial many consider sexually suggestive.
Ella Gross appears in the ad which is only running in Korea. The commercial includes video of milk exploding on the screen and close ups and slow motion shots of the young girl’s lips as she eats the ice cream off a spoon.
Gross appeared in three episodes of Heathers on the Paramount Network in 2018 and she has 3.2 million Instagram followers, according to Newsweek.
According to the Daily Naver, Baskin Robbins has apologized for the ad saying “we have decided to stop sharing the video after our customers expressed discomfort with the image of Ella Gross in the commercial. From now on, we will try to become a brand that listens to the diverse opinions and advice from our customers. Once again, we apologize to all customers of Baskin Robbins.”
The chain said Gross’ parents were fully present during the entire production and that they had thorough discussions about the ad with both her parents and her agency. They also said she wore child make up and children’s brand of clothing.
Many however criticized the ad for dressing Gross up like an adult woman. One twitter user called the ad “weird and disgusting,” reported Newsweek.
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RE: Baskin Robbins accused of sexualizing child model: Much ado about nothing. Thanks for sharing. I think the people that see something sexualized in this our oversexed themselves……………..or undersexed. I don’t read any sexiness into this ad at all.
Excitement for ice cream flavors is all I see