A 60-foot balloon of Kim Kardashian lying
horizontally in a blue triangle bikini in the middle of Times Square is receiving mixed reactions from consumers.
The doll's arms were placed over its head while it lay on a
blue block embossed with the Skims logo.
“The installation is set to promote Skims' new swimwear collection, with the doll wearing the same bikini ensemble as Kim donned in a
recent photoshoot," according to Hello!
The marketing campaign
has divided fans who responded to photos of the installation on the brand's Instagram page.
"This is beyond weird," one fan posted while another user wrote: "Such an
unrealistic representation of a women’s body.”
A steady stream of onlookers were drawn to the display last week.
“The Post observed several
families passing the giant Skims ad, including one father who took a photograph of his young daughter in front of the balloon,” according to the New York Post. “Once he snapped a few pics, the young girl
switched places and took flicks of her father.”
The location of the display -- Times Square -- draws up to 300,000 pedestrians per day.
“While a good
likeness of the original, Balloon Kim did not so much depict a person as it did a commodity, an abandoned outer shell -- a product designed specifically for consumption by crowds of people -- in one
of the most commercial zones in the world,” according to The New York Times. “And it
was serving the function for which it was designed. … “Ms Kardashian long ago turned over ‘that’ body -- the commercial construction of it — to the masses, letting it
crystallize into a corporate logo, whose instant recognizability has earned her a fortune.”
WWD called the promotion “inventive.”
“Kardashian has modeled for the Skims brand before,” according
to WWD. “In April 2024, the entrepreneur and reality TV icon posed for another Skims Swim Shop collection campaign photographed by Nick Knight.”