I don't see how the competition fits in with flex appeal at all tbh (and Next and Hello! aren't brands I would have associated with her or the campaign but maybe it was about taking it to wider audience I suppose). Surely this can't be the job she had 4 interviews for? But fair play to her for being open and saying she didn't think it through properly or go with her gut feel, because we have all made mistakes at work, none so visible though, and she is fronting up to it and facing the criticism head on rather than switching off her instagram and spending the day in bed, which is what I would probably want to be doing if I was her.
It's so interesting watching these things play out on IG though, one comment can spark off a whole train of other comments, someone mentions something else relating to the issue and that bubbles into lots of other posts each gradually making the same point but in a more forceful way, dissenting voices are dampened down, someone gets called a troll, a few people pop up with views completely opposed to everyone else and they get ignored, a couple of people completely miss the point and ask where her dress is from, and then the conversation can turn a complete 180 within the space of hours. Fascinating.