Macy's responds to outrage over cut-and-pasted marketing materials that omit two-parent black family

Greg P. | 2:17 PM on November 20, 2018

There’s a viral photo going around on social media showing different families in Macy’s holiday pajamas that has some questioning why the clothing retailer omitted a “two parent Black family” from the marketing materials:

@Macys Where is the two parent Black family in this ad?? https://t.co/rX1lhRFwqR

— Lea Cecilia (@WiseLocs) November 20, 2018

Here’s the photo:

The underlying message in this new Macy ad speaks volumes pic.twitter.com/10CbtSXReC

— Tariq Nasheed (@tariqnasheed) November 18, 2018

You see, this makes Macy’s racist … or something:

@Macys why are you guys rascist

— JimJoppyJoe (@snoopyduece13) November 20, 2018

Symbolism is important. Portray my people in a non negative way @Macys
I refuse to believe that a corporation of your magnitude is tone deaf to skin pigmentation issues because you knocked the lbgt pics out the park

— Conrad Hawkins (@AntBloom) November 20, 2018

Some are even calling for a boycott of the company:

EXIT MACY’S So @macys is added to the list of #marketing #campaigns that need to result in the firing of the entire team. Why is the #blackwoman the only one portrayed alone? Not only is… https://t.co/K8Kl5mbKJV

— Getthefkon (@getthefkon) November 20, 2018

Macy's must be held account for this major corporate blunder! Black people must make them feel the ire by purchasing our holiday choices with other retailers competing with Macy's for our '18 holiday $$$! Eliminate Macy's from your shopping list…INFECT their year-end sales

— Cecil Sharpe (@08cecil) November 20, 2018

Hey @Macys here’s some ideas for a better marketing campaign since your models and images are currently in very poor taste and extremely disrespectful to Black men! When I shop and see my kings, this is what I see. #FixIt pic.twitter.com/R8g0SrcemY

— Dr. Tiffany Tubman (@montswife16) November 20, 2018

Macy’s, however, says these photos were just cut-and-pasted together and never ran together like this as an actual ad;

Thank you for reaching out to share feedback on our holiday pajama product images. We apologize. Our intent was never to offend. It’s important for us to know when we've missed the mark, and we appreciate that our customers let us know. (1/3)

— Macy's (@Macys) November 20, 2018

Additionally, if you saw a collection of images on social media, please know that those were actually product images that were cut and pasted together rather than an advertisement from Macy’s. (2/3)

— Macy's (@Macys) November 20, 2018

We know we are at our best when what we do fully reflects the rich diversity of our colleagues, customers & communities. We have shared the comments with our team & are making changes so our customers see balanced images when shopping online with us. (3/3)

— Macy's (@Macys) November 20, 2018

In other words, another fake outrage.

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