The Anaheim Ducks apologized Sunday for a promotional video that featured center Ryan Kesler walking around team offices in his “birthday suit” in celebration of the NHL’s 100th birthday.
According to ESPN, the now-deleted Twitter video featured Kesler strutting around naked, as a co-worker asked him, “What are you doing, bud?” The video was clearly intended as an innocent joke, but in light of the recent barrage of sexual harassment claims against prominent men, including some who allegedly exposed themselves to unwitting women, it was easy to see why some people viewed it as inappropriate.
Our tweet posted earlier today was meant to be a lighthearted video celebrating the NHL’s 100th birthday. We realize in retrospect the content of the video may have been insensitive and we have removed the video and apologize.
— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) November 26, 2017
Naturally, some fans will be annoyed that the Ducks caved to some sort of “political correctness” in taking down the video. But the truth is that light-hearted depictions of men acting poorly help normalize their behavior. A man walking around naked becomes a punchline, when it should be recognized as a form of sexual harassment. There shouldn’t be anything funny about co-workers forced to look at a dude’s junk, just as there isn’t anything funny about various other forms of sexual misconduct.
The Ducks presumably did not mean any harm by the video, and there’s no reason to condemn them for it. But the promo was a mistake, and the team was right to take it down.
[Image via ESPN]
