Aussie jeweller is slammed for mocking homeless people and drug addiction in advertising campaign

A Melbourne-based jeweller has been slammed over an advertising campaign that appeared to mock drug addiction and the homeless.

The now-deleted video, created by boutique brand S-kin Studio, shows a woman face down on the pavement with the contents of her handbag scattered around her.

At one point in the ad, which was captioned 'I found her like this', another woman approaches and robs the woman's jewellery case lying beside her.

'That's vile,' one person wrote on the Facebook page Tea Time after a screenshot from the promotion was shared on the platform.

'The way society dehumanises homeless people and homelessness is disgusting,' they added.

'It's incredibly demeaning and offensive that this is the desperation that they will think will help sell their product,' another said on the same thread.

A third person said, 'What brand is this? I need to be sure to avoid it. Marketing homelessness, drug OD, assault. Not cool at all.'

Some in the thread began to speculate that the ad was intended to be humorous, with the woman suffering from a hangover.

'Am I the only one who sees this as a big night out and she's passed out, not anything to do with addiction, homelessness...' one person suggested.

Another replied: 'Using a situation where a person is vulnerable and having their belongings taken [cos] it's cute as a marketing gimmick is still pretty disgraceful.'

Chi Mai, co-founder of S-kin Studio jewellery, was forced to post an apology after the backlash and insisted the ad was using the popular 'trip and fall' trend used by content creators.

'Earlier today, we posted a video about our Gold Mini Vault launch,' she said in a video posted on Instagram.

'The trend format we used came across as poking light of homelessness, and that is genuinely tone deaf and not okay.

'I am so sorry. As the founder, this is on me, and intention or otherwise, we got it wrong. 

'The video is down, and we are fixing how we review content before it goes live. To everyone who called us out, we are so sorry that we let you down.

'We made a mistake.'

'As someone who hasn't seen the tripped and fell trend, my first thought was indeed a homeless person,' one person responded to Mai's apology.

Still, other viewers saw the ad as harmless, with one person commenting, 'It's the trip and fell trend, are people really that dramatic?'

Another disagreed: 'There is nothing 'dramatic' about having nowhere to live.'

Hanoi-born Chi Mai, who moved from Vietnam to Australia to study commerce at Melbourne University, launched S-kin Studio in 2018.

The brand is known for its gold-filled accessories that won't tarnish in water and are suitable for sensitive skin.

With no formal training in jewellery making, the 30-year-old started by watching YouTube tutorials on different techniques before experimenting with pieces ordered from a US wholesaler in the spare bedroom of her Melbourne home.

In 2024, the entrepreneur opened a boutique in Hawthorn.