M&S/furries/school kids

[JoxerGoesToStuttgart]

These ads creep me out on their own (a hedgehog/seal in school uniform just standing there staring? how does that sell school uniform?) but the resemblance to the “furry” movement is just too much. I’m possibly just over exposed to the grimness of the whole furry underworld and see anything depicting kids as furry animals as sinister.

Am I alone or is this weird?

www.facebook.com/MarksandSpencer/posts/10156986494533612/

This one is a hedgehog. There is one with a seal. Not sure if there are others.

Good grief.....

#forthewildones

Just wait until you see the trailer for the upcoming Cats film: m.youtube.com/watch?v=gq50F-IDXDc

It doesn't suggest furries to me, but they are seriously creepy.

Giraffe in a skirt

This has nothing to do with furries.

I saw those masks on dummies in the store last week. Fucking creepy.

Ive maybe been unclear. I don’t think this is deliberately a nod to furries (although you never can tell any more), I think it’s too similar to furries for comfort. Although it seems that recently furries and children’s items are all just blending together. This seems like another example.

I find the cats trailer really unsettling too tbf

Oh God yes the masks on the dummies. I did a double take when I saw those the other day.

Creepy, but not furries.

And those non-iron shirts are rubbish, actually get more creased than standard shirts.

I saw the ad yesterday... thank you for articulating why I was creeped our

There are masks? do M&S think it’s halloween?

Right at the top of the escalator in my local branch. Happily cruising along looking for trainer socks and there they were. Like something out of Scarfolk.

It’s only too close to furries for comfort for you because you’ve spent loads of time thinking about furries!

because you’ve spent loads of time thinking about furries!

Umm, what? what makes you think that? I don’t generally spend much time at all thinking about furries. (Because they creep me out) I’m just aware of them. Knowing about something doesn’t mean you spend loads of time thinking about it.

I mean as you say, in your OP, over exposed to them.

Most people don’t have furries on their radar.

It just looks inspired by folk art to me.

Over exposed, yes, I’ve seen quite a lot of furry stuff due to MN feminism threads. That’s nothing at all like spending lots of time thinking about them.

Is there something more going on with you I’m not following? is this a sensitive issue?

I think the average M&S customer (both parent and DC) would think Sylvanian Families and not furries

Well this is escalating!

I really only mean it’s not a connection most people would make.

Culture is full of human animal hybrids, and it almost never has anything to do with furries. Most people don’t even know what a furry is.

M&S get it wrong by a bazillion miles yet again.
Who does their marketing?

🐵🦁🦌🐴🐼🐸

Dd2 loves them. She thinks animals should get all the modelling jobs from intnow on....
Tbh furries had not crossed my mind until this thread.

Yeah, I agree with endofdays. There are lots of kids shows and books with animal people, furries aren't the obvious link for most. More like Rupert.

Yes I think I’m seeing a link that isn’t there (I do blame MN for that ) but I still insist that these particular animals/ads are creepy as hell. If they spoke or interacted they mightn’t be so bad! But just staring! They’re weird.

Totally weird.
I found Rupert creepy too when I read them to my kids as an adult. Something about the animal heads with human hands.

YES! I thought this the other day, it completely creeped me out.

There is also no way at all that their advertising department doesn't know about furries. No way at all, not if you're active on the internet or have googled things like animal costumes. They know exactly what it looks like but I'll bet they're young and woke enough to think it's hilarious too, and to want it to be edgy. Like hiding penis jokes in cartoons, that sort of thing.

Theres nothing wrong with furrys at all, I do agree that their really creepy though, it's more related to the cats movie coming out, and at the end of the day if it was furrys what's wrong with it? It's just a werid bit of photoshop work and I dont understand how its meant to attract consumers.