The public has been cross-checking advertising and imagery quite fiercely, and brands are finding themselves being called out on social media more than ever. On Thursday (August 20), Netflix was the target of Cancel Culture after the cover image to the film Cuties was shared. The award-winning French film is about an 11-year-old girl named Amy who joins a dance team named "The Cuties." The movie received rave reviews, but some people thought that Netflix's Cuties photo was over-sexualizing young girls.
Following the backlash, which ran rampant on Twitter, the streaming service decided to regain control of the narrative before the accusations became a roaring, uncontrollable fire. "We're deeply sorry for the inappropriate artwork that we used for Mignonnes/Cuties," Netflix tweeted from their official account. "It was not OK, nor was it representative of this French film which won an award at Sundance. We’ve now updated the pictures and description."
People argued that the original artwork for the French version of the film, Mignonnes, was much more age-appropriate. Although the apology has been formally issued, some still have a difficult time reconciling that the major streaming service purposefully chose the photo that was published. Check out a few responses below.