Herschel Backpack Advert Sparks Debate About Women's Safety

A backpack advert has raised eyebrows after encouraging people to talk to a stranger - sparking a heated debate about women's safety.

The Herschel ad could be seen on a billboard, and was simply a black screen with the words "say hello to a stranger" inscribed onto it.

While the intent was presumably to encourage social interaction, many pointed out that the advert seemed to disregard women's safety altogether, by making such a suggestion.

"Tell me you didn’t run your ad past any women without telling me you didn’t run your ad past any women," one person wrote on Twitter after walking past the board.

Twitter/ Lizzie Logan)

She further added: "If this were an ad for a dating app? Maybe. But It’s for a backpack company. Whyyyyyyy".

"I- the last time I was nice and conversed with a stranger he followed me out of the theatre and to my car and only retreated when another person showed up. SOOOOO NO I WILL NOT TALK TO STRANGERS," wrote one woman after spotting the tweet.

As another concurred: "If I was walking around the subway and a man approached me and said 'that ad gave me the courage to put myself out there, hello!' I would be fearing for my life".

Of course, there were some men that didn't see the issue.

"It’s words on a f*cking wall," wrote one person in response to the outrage.

While another penned: "Right, let's never talk to anyone, ever."

Twitter)

A third mansplained: "It’s pretty normal to say good morning to whoever is walking past you, unless they’re going out of their way to avoid eye contact and obviously don’t want to be spoken to. Which is pretty rare".

Hitting back at the haters, another woman wrote: "Hey men commenting on this saying it’s not a big deal or we’re “too sensitive”, the point is going way over your heads. Stop talking & listen for once.

"I’m a small, young woman. Saying hello to a random man on a subway could v well lead to him thinking I’m interested & following me.

"Wouldn’t be the 1st time a man has wrongly interpreted my simple niceness as interest & pursued me."

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As another argued: "Idk maybe because many women have to be careful who they talk to since they have no way of knowing who’s a rapist or not? It’s like saying “not all men” when really there’s enough for it to be an issue and that argument just negates the issue entirely w/o actually addressing it."

Tyla has contacted Herschel for comment.

Topics: Real Life

Joanna Freedman

Joanna has worked at Tyla for the last two years, and has a particular interest in highlighting women's issues and telling inspiring first person stories. She's also their resident foodie, and loves covering exciting new beauty launches. Contact her at [email protected].

@joannafreedman