Canadian fashion company La Maison Simons is under scrutiny for a commercial they released last month advertising assisted suicide. The three-minute ad follows the story of Jennyfer, who chose to go through with euthanasia in October of 2022 due to living with a terminal illness. Apparently, Jennyfer, 37, suffered from Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

The commercial uses evocative imagery including music and dancing, pretty lanterns and sparkling lights, warmly-lit gatherings filled with camaraderie, childhood photos, and is replete with obligatory beach scenes, because we all know the sea is the paragon of metaphors, albeit cliché. Alongside a calmly-spoken voiceover from Jennyfer herself, the entire experience is heavily spiritual…

Until you remember it’s quite literally an advertisement for a paid product, and that paid product is killing yourself. Despite this, former Simons CEO Peter Simons claims it’s not a commercial campaign. Maybe he was just pursuing it from a creative angle, but it’s difficult to release this kind of commercial with a company’s name attached and not consider it some form of marketing. Needless to say, plenty are disgusted with the ad, calling it “deplorable” and  “dystopian.” Here’s one Redditor's response:

Canada first introduced Medically Assisted in Death (MAID) in 2016. Since then, 31,664 Canadians have chosen medically-assisted suicide. Interestingly, according to macleans.ca the majority of Canadians support medically-assisted suicide (around 86%). Additionally, 82% want to expand its accessibility. The controversy surrounding this commercial, then, may not necessarily be assisted suicide itself, but the glorification of assisted suicide when a company is to profit from it.

This issue is especially contentious when considering the fact that Canada is planning to expand MAID to those suffering with mental illness in March of 2023. Pandering suicide to the mentally ill, who may not be in a sound enough state of mind to make such drastic, quite-literally life-altering decisions, with images of beautiful beaches, campfires, and dinners with friends just feels manipulative.