Fashion retailer Simons criticized for promoting assisted-suicide video

by Dan Fournier, published Tuesday, Nov. 29, 9:25 EST on fournier.substack.com

La Maison Simons in Park Royal. Image source: Wikimedia Commons

Canadian fashion retailer Simons produced and released a video promoting assisted-suicide which has raised many eyebrows on social media lately.

 The original 3-minute film called All is Beauty tells the story of a middle-aged woman named Jennyfer who has chosen to end her life by MAiD (medical assistance in dying), a legalised medical process that certain Canadians can apply for.

 The film doesn’t explain which illness Jennyfer was suffering from, nor on what grounds she requested MAiD services.

 Visually- and emotionally-charged, the film begins with “The most beautiful exit” as its subtitle, followed by the voice of Jennyfer saying “It can take dying to figure out what living is actually like.”

 “Even though as I seek help to end my life, with all the pain, and in these final moments, there is still so much beauty. You just have to be brave enough to see it.”

 Peter Simons, who recently ceded his position as President and CEO at the Quebec-based fashion retailer, formally called La Maison Simons, made a separate video explaining his motivations for the project.

 “It’s obviously not a commercial campaign,” he states. “I think we sincerely believe that companies have a responsibility to participate in communities and to help build the communities that we want to live in tomorrow, and leave to our children.”

 On covering the contentiousness of the issue at hand, assisted-suicide, Simons admits he is “scared,” yet falls short in explaining the motivation behind his company’s need to release the controversial video which has seemingly little to do with its line of business.

 User comments from their official YouTube’s posts, both in English and French, on social media and other media outlets covering the story vary in their degree of acceptance. Some are quite supportive and thankful, while others show disgust and contempt for how a corporate entity can showcase such a controversial piece.

 “This ad campaign is so myopic, morally bankrupt, and fundamentally broken on so many levels of human sensibilities,” observed one user. “One of most ghoulish self-promotion videos I’ve seen from a Canadian corporation. Sick,” commented another.

 “What a tragedy, using death as an advertising tool. Good to see abuses in industry self promotion has reached a new low. How about you donate a million dollars in product to those who are living and in need...,” retorted one, while another concluded: “Ya I guess in the end it is good marketing, just feels a bit creepy.”

 Much of the controversy for this corporate film lies not in the celebration of Jennyfer’s life and the beauty that surrounded it, but rather amid the intended, or unintended, manner in which it appears normalize assisted-suicide to the greater population.

 A similar concern was also raised with the creation of a Children’s Activity book aimed towards children as young a six on the concept of MAiD.

 Finally, some also have observed that the short film even trivializes and glorifies death itself, given some of the statements voiced in the film.  

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Notes:

Un updated version of article is also published in The Counter Signal.

UPDATE (2022-12-07):

As per a Dec. 1, 2022 CTV News Vancouver article titled B.C. woman behind 'dystopian' commercial found 'death care' easier than health care and tweet by its reporter, the identity of Jennyfer and her illness are now known. A big part of her battle - and something not discussed at all in the Simons video - was the fact that she struggled to receive adequate health care during her suffering. CTV News asked to speak with Peter Simons directly, but was told he was unavailable. Whether he knew about Jennyfer’s poor medical treatment prior to asking for MAiD is not yet determined. The CTV article also stated that a public relations company (presumably for Simons) said the campaign had “come to an end this week,” (last week) to explain why the related videos were no longer viewable on YouTube; this is quite odd, since they did not respond to my media inquiry last week (on Nov. 30) for which they could have stated the same thing.

UPDATE #2 (2022-12-07):

As per a Dec. 5, 2022 article in the National Post Woman featured in pro-euthanasia commercial wanted to live, Jennyfer only opted for assisted suicide after her years-long attempts to secure proper health care failed, friends have revealed. Even when her condition was deemed terminal, the B.C. health-care system hadn’t even been able to provide her with appropriate palliative care. “I feel like I’m falling through the cracks so if I’m not able to access health care am I then able to access death care?’ And that’s what led me to look into MAID,” stated the distraught woman back in June (as per another CTV article). Her case is not isolated, for many in B.C. and in other provinces are facing the same lack of treatment and care.

Disclaimer:

None of the contents of this article is to be taken as medical or health-related advice. Seek independent professional consultation before making health-related decisions. See the author’s About page for full disclaimer.