Oh friends.
Seeing this picture on my Instagram feed yesterday made me a little queasy.
I’m not going to sit here and type judgments about these parents….although I think it must be said that throwing a helpless infant across rocks just BEGS for me to do so. In my mommy mind, that guy falls before catching the baby. Or just misses catching the baby. No no no. Just no.
What I will do is call Patagonia out.
Dude!
In what possible realm of reality could this photo be called, “GREAT”!?!?!?!?!? Stupid. Reckless. Idiotic. Yes. But not great.
Dear Patagonia,
I’m unfollowing you on Instagram….which may be a little harsh. But I’d venture to guess that I’m not the only one who did so.
End rant. End post.
I’m off to hold my little ones a little tighter.
———–
QUESTION: It’s actually two-fold. 1) What do YOU think of this picture? and 2) Do you unfollow people on Instagram if they post pictures that piss you off? <-unfortunately yes – there was one the other day of this guy performing a handstand with two 30-pound kettlebells wrapped around his feet. Looks cool until you drop one on your face. Unfollow.
splendid…lindsay
I am so narcissistic that I often just use IG to post about ME and not look at anyone else’s pictures. [Oops.] Most of the people I follow I do so because they inspire me, I know them, or I think their lives are cool. However, when I do take the time to scroll through, there are certain types of posts that irk me, but usually it is just because someone has written a really long caption and I have no attention span for that. ;) In all seriousness, I think it is a person’s own prerogative what they choose to show, but if it is a national (or local) company, a public institution, they need to be more responsible for the content they display.
Really surprised that Patagonia would post this picture! I wonder if they have deleted it, although the damage is done. I agree with you on this one. It’s totally redunkulous. As for deleting people on Instagram, there are only so many annoying pictures I can handle and then I say good bye. It’s like a nice cleanse. I did some deleting yesterday. It felt awesome.
This picture gave me the willies. Seriously, is Patagonia insane? Real or not, this is really bad taste. Really really bad. Ugh. And I in follow people on IG who talk about their macros, their “cheats”, their numbers in general…I don’t need my mind going down that route. I’ve worked too hard to get away from it! <3
Photoshopped or not, that’s just a dumb picture. I do think that it’s a poor attempt at humor. I totally unfollow people on IG or Twitter or wherever that piss me off.
I’m also thinking photoshopped. A poor attempt at humor, most likely. :)
OMG seriously?! do you think there is any chance its photoshopped? and YES I definitely unfollow annoying people. No shame in my game.
The picture is most definitely photoshopped :) haha
Please tell me this is photo-shoped! I can’t imagine! ugh!!
Whoa. Pretty crazy photo. Although I think I’m the only one who actually thought, “Whoa! No way!” instead of “Ahhh!” upon reading it. No, I wouldn’t throw a baby across that gap, BUT I love pictures of kids being thrown up into the air and everything! Our friend throws his kids ridiculously high and the kids show complete trust in him; I love it! However, a baby, not a kid, is another thing AND that gap is way too huge for comfort. Yikes. I love Patagonia and don’t think I’d unfollow; I’m not a usual unfollow-er after one event but if I see multiple photos or tweets that are offensive to me, then I do unfollow them without another thought.
Great post; LOTS of food for thought!
This is just promoting bad behavior to get your “5 seconds of fame”. Dislike.
These are strictly my own views… I wouldn’t unfollow someone because of something they said or did that I didn’t like. I feel like we all think & act differently. We have different opinions. I often times say to myself “what were they thinking” or “WTH”
people get themselves so worked up over things that don’t even directly affect them or their lives.. I really like living stress free.. I was a huge stresser about EVERYTHING.. what I said, what people said to me, what I ate, how I looked, what I posted on social forums. what will people think??
Now I really don’t care.. if someone wants to judge me then I feel compassion for them. that’s their issue not mine. life is so much easier and happy for me now, as it should be.
At the end of the day the only judgements that count are from the person starting back at me in the mirror and God. :)
Yep I unfollow or unsubscribe all the time when I dislike something. Usually I comment or send a note about it, but something like that?? REally? I also quite often unfollow twitter, facebook or pinterest pages that promote fitspo/thinspo.
I think we NEED to point these things out and not follow the crowd saying “cool picture” or “great post” when we believe otherwise.
Bravo for having your own opinion and calling them out!
Its a completely fake/photoshopped photo – at least that is how I see it. The baby isn’t responding in anyway, the hands of the parents are completely stages…and in what decade was this photo taken? The clothes/shoes/gear makes me think its an old photo!
Oh my goodness! No I completely agree, this is anything but great! Where, in anyones mind, does this seem like a good idea?! And then to give these parents any sort of recognition and call it “great”, that is just ridiculous!
This just reminded me that I have a coat to return to the Patagonia outlet! Haha.. anyway.. even kidless me knows not to toss babies around.
Ugh, this made me queasy! Not a fan!
It’s definitely fake; look at the mother’s hand positioning. I know that’s not the point though. Still a queasy picture.
this reminds me of the time that Michael Jackson held his baby out the window. I was watching that in the gym and remember feeling that same queasy feeling I’m getting when I look at this picture.
I’m on the fence about unfollowing people if they piss me off. If it’s somebody that I actually like IRL, I usually send them a message about a photo or whatever that offended me. But I have had an issue lately with needing to not pay attention to others’ fitness posts (flexing photos, and weight posts) but I don’t want to unfollow people who I actually like because that sends a message. It’s kind of a conundrum.
But I get it. And I am really glad you wrote this post. I would be just as upset if they threw a dog. Or a fish. Or any living thing (besides a bird because those have wings). That’s just cruel.
Also, being an art director, I have to ask the question … who shot that photo? It looks like it was shot for a promotion (catalog, website, etc.). The lighting is too perfect and it looks too staged. And I picture the baby getting dropped. :( I don’t have kids but this makes me upset.
and wouldn’t the photographer be situated in the canyon? i mean, i guess not, but the photo certainly is shot from that perspective. and if the photographer isn’t in the canyon and is on flat land… (if this were a real photo) wouldn’t the parents just…walk around?
That’s terrifying. What is the whole story behind this? I don’t understand why that would ever be okay.
And yes, I unfollow people on Instagram… I kind of do it in a “you’re pissing me off, I’m going to unfollow you, and that’ll show you, so HA!” kind of way.
Unless there’s a mountain lion on the side that the mother is on, and she’s throwing the baby to safety, there is no need for this picture to be posted anywhere.
Unless there is a mountain lion on the side with the mother and she’s throwing the baby to save it’s life, there is no reason why this picture should be posted anywhere!
And yes I unfollow people on Instagram for posting things that I don’t want to see…definitely :)
I just can’t believe this photo is real. BUT, it looks like it’s really old based on their clothes, and um, the man’s spandex. So, was it acceptable to toss babies between mountain peaks way back when? I’m going to guess not. They definitely made a mistake posting this – they should’ve known it was going to get some backlash.
I don’t even know if that picture is real, but I was near puking just from having seen it.
Honestly, when I first saw the picture, I thought it was fake. However, even if it is, Patagonia still has a responsibility to not promote things like this. This one might be fake. The next one might not be!
That is crazy. Whoever thought that was “cool” should lose their job! How irresponsible!
Yeah I’m hoping that’s photoshopped….what the heck?!
As a fellow mama, looking at this picture felt like getting punched in the gut. Completely idiotic, and senseless. I have unfollowed people on Instagram many-a-times. My rules are no drama, no body-hate (of any kind) and … no throwing babies. ;)
I did a little digging on this, and it seems there has been a lot of questions raised on the internet about this photo, which appears in a book of their “best of” catalogue images. Patagonia has been contacted about the image, but has never replied. And the photographer himself won’t admit to whether or not it was photoshopped. It seems they enjoy the mystery surrounding it?
My heart just STOPPED. I’d imagine most people would be too timid to throw their iPhone across such a gap – and to toss a BABY?! Oh man. I would never!
I really hope that pic is photoshopped.
I unfollow people all. the. time. Life’s too short to be annoyed by people on a random social media platform. Mostly people who are really preachy about their food and why it’s better than everyone else’s food. They’ve gotta go. ;-)
Even if it is photoshopped or staged or the kid’s wearing a mini parachute, it’s really not ok. I know of someone who dropped a child tossing him up in a living room (not over a ravine) and the child has lasting mental and physical damage. To post this image is saying it’s acceptable behavior, and it most certainly isn’t.
This can’t be real, right? Either way, the idea of it makes my stomach drop.
Omg, that is not normal. Who does that?!
that’s just stupid. too many bad things that could have gone wrong there.
OMG my stomach just dropped! Photoshopped or not, that is horrible!! And I totally unfollow people who annoy me- though I usually give them “3 strikes and they’re out” ;)
I really hope that is photoshopped!
Holy crap, that’s unnerving. Hopefully photoshopped?!
i had to unfollow this one girl i went to college with that would post obnoxious things like her uber expensive shoes and handbags. even though those things are material, it made me feel bad about myself. unfollow.
My guess is its a photoshopped image bec I sincerely hope no one in their right minds would do that.
That’s not okay, especially being posted by such a big company. So many people will see that, what if someone wants to recreate that?!? Oh that baby, I want to reach out and grab it! I also think it’s perfectly okay to unfollow on instagram – it’s for YOU to decide what you want to see and support, and if someone isn’t lifting you up, then there’s no reason to keep following them.
yeeeeeah, not okay with that one!!!
Are you sure this isn’t just photoshoped?
That is insane and makes me queasy. What is wrong with people??