“It’s disgusting. Using domestic violence to sell your products is despicable.” Like influencer Clare Verrall, quoted by the Australian channel’s website 7news, many Internet users reacted strongly to a promotional video published by the Australian brand Bath Box. Specializing in bath products, the company posted a video on TikTok parodying the words of actress Amber Heard from the trial that has pitted her since April 11 against her ex-husband, Johnny Depp. The latter is suing her for defamation following a column published in 2018 by the Washington Postin which Amber Heard suggests that she was the victim of domestic violence, without however mentioning the name of her ex-spouse.
A trial widely publicized and followed around the globe, which gave rise to a surge of misogyny with regard to the actress, as analyzed among others by the American site The Cut. Enough to inspire certain brands, which have not hesitated to surf on the enormous enthusiasm aroused on social networks. The Bath Box video, for example, mocks an audio excerpt from the trial in which the actress recounts the physical abuse she accuses of Johnny Depp: “We see two women reenacting the scene described by Heard in his testimony”, relate 7news.
Bath Box has since deleted the video, and its spokesperson has presented “the most flat and sincere apologies” of the company, claiming that it was a “error” and that there was in no way “laughing matter” about domestic violence. The incident is far from isolated, says the Daily Mail, which reports the initiative of the Australian bakery chain Dessert Boxes. In a video that has gone viral, the company claims to have sent actress Amber Head a box “containing a middle finger donut and a bottle of vodka”.
Instrumentalization of the trial
About the pastry, the voiceover of the video says: “We’re going to cut off his finger with a bottle of vodka, too.” A reference, specifies the British tabloid, “to Johnny Depp’s allegations that his ex-wife cut off the end of his finger with debris from a vodka bottle”. The video was accompanied by the hashtag #JusticePourJohnnyDepp and this ironic question: “Do you think she’ll like it?”
Far from apologizing for this video, the company complained about the reactions of some Internet users. Mansour Shukoo, employee of the pastry chain’s marketing team, said that Dessert Boxes had “been bombarded with responses from rampaging ‘trolls’”. Many brands have thus exploited the ongoing lawsuit between the two celebrities for commercial purposes and taken a position in favor of Johnny Depp.
Ambiguous marks
Among the supporters of the Hollywood actor, the South China Morning Post quotes the house of Dior, pointing out that “where many brands parted ways with Depp after his reputation as an ‘abusive husband’ came to light, Dior retained him as an ambassador and even featured him in their latest fragrance ad Sauvage”.
From the Hollywood side, Johnny Depp’s career seemed “having hit rock bottom when he lost the iconic role of Captain Jack Sparrow in the Disney saga Pirates of the Caribbean, as well as that of Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts”, recalls the Hong Kong media. It was without counting on the support of Universal Pictures: the famous studios “would be willing to collaborate with him for future films”, indicates the title.
Conversely, a petition asking that Amber Heard be removed from the cast of the film Aquaman 2 garnered more than 4 million signatures, making it into the top ten most signed petitions on Change.org. The petitions “We want Johnny Depp to be Captain Jack Sparrow again”, addressed to the giant Disney, and “Justice for Johnny Depp” have collected 800,000 and 700,000 signatures respectively.