• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, December 2, 2015

So Toronto-based agency Zulu Alpha Kilo -- of Say No to Spec fame, like many agencies during this time of year, decided to have some fun and create a holiday video. It's called Jingle Butts and it's all about finding the right butts in the agency on which to drum Jingle Bells. The agency brought in Spanish percussionist and YouTube star Jorge Perez to whack out the tune on agency butts all to benefit Colon Cancer Canada. 

Sounds like fun, right? 

Clearly, you haven't met Internet 2015. 

Within minutes of the agency releasing the video, comments began to flow and all the usual words were present: sexist, racist, white, black, outrage, cyberbullying, trolling, misogynistic, lame advertising agency bullshit, outdated garbage, bad taste, eyeroll, etc. 

And while the butt drumming stunt has been done many times before, clearly, we are no longer allowed to have fun in today's outrage-fueled world where offense and outrage now occur in rampant reaction to even the most mundane and seemingly harmless thoughts or events.  

In response to the outrage and accusations of misogyny, the agency issued a response to AdWeek which read, "Zulu has always been committed to supporting charitable causes and making contributions important to our team. In order to stay true to who we are as a company, we often do this in a cheeky and memorable way. The intent of this year's holiday video is to show our support to Colon Cancer Canada. We assure you we are 'equal bum opportunists.' The video features both male and female models." 

And while it appears the agency went to great lengths to include a range of color and sex in its butt models, the internet is not pleased.  

One commenter ripped the agency a new one writing, "Wow. How 'edgy' and 'unexpected.' It would've been an amazingly hilarious spot if you would have skipped the misogyny and truly used mens butts. Ooh, let's play trick the consumer (like some of those who have commented) by showing them casting more men than women then showing men at the end. Yes! NAILED IT. Clear that the ad world is run by men when no thought to actually make this unexpected (instead of just 'viral') was the clear main objective here. What a fail." 

Another wrote, "Wow, so many levels of wrong but the worst thing? It's not creative. Ok, not the worst thing, I can't name the worst thing. So very many worst things. Can there be multiple worst things?" 

Are these valid reactions or just your typical rants from anonymous ad people who wish they actually came up with something this fun?