There was an unsettling billboard that loomed over Cannes Film Festival and it belonged to the promotional efforts of an animated film called Red Shoes & the 7 Dwarfs, a Snow White parody starring the voice of Chloë Grace Moretz.
Model Tess Holliday did not beat around the bush and called out the body-shaming billboard on her Twitter account. She tagged Chloë in her tweet that read, “How did this get approved by an entire marketing team? Why is it okay to tell kids being fat = ugly?”
This brought about reactions from netizens as they tweeted about their concerns not only about the billboard but the film itself.
Chloë eventually responded via her Twitter account saying that she has reviewed the marketing materials and she too is as appalled and angry as everyone else. “Please know I have let the producers of the film know. I lent my voice to a beautiful script that I hope you will all see in its entirety,” she tweeted. “The actual story is powerful for young women and resonated with me. I am sorry for the offense that was beyond my creative control.”
But you see it’s not just the billboard we’re having problems with, it’s possibly the whole concept of this film. It tells a story of a princess who “doesn’t fit into the celebrity world of Princesses—or their dress size.” Those are the words from the production company, and not ours. I mean just watch the teaser trailer and let it speak for itself.
“We appreciate and are grateful for the constructive criticism of those who brought this to our attention. We sincerely regret any embarrassment or dissatisfaction this mistaken advertising has caused to any of the individual artists or companies involved with the production or future distribution of our film, none of whom had any involvement with creating or approving the now discontinued advertising campaign,” said Sujin Hwang, one of the film’s producers.
The power of the Internet and social media has given film producers (and even brands) an added weight to their responsibilities—that is to be extra careful with the content and message they’re trying to push, because a lot of people are watching and they’re not afraid to speak out.
[Mic and Rolling Stone]
Photo courtesy of Chloë Grace Moretz’s Instagram account
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