Canadian company's commercial highlighting euthanasia panned as 'dystopian'

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La Maison Simons, a fashion retailer in Canada, has shocked social media users after airing a commercial that appeared to promote assisted suicide—using a now deceased woman as the subject of the advertisement. 

The company, as part of its "All is Beauty" campaign, arranged multiple filmed travel excursions for a terminally ill young woman before the date of her scheduled physician-assisted suicide (PAS).

"Last breaths are sacred," the woman says as the advertisement begins. "When I imagine my final days, I see bubbles. I see the ocean. I see music."

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The advertisement shows the woman in a variety of exotic locations, sitting in a chair on the shoreline, looking up at neon sculptures of whales and jellyfish moving through a jungle, and eating a candlelit dinner among friends. 

A file photo from The Canadian Press depicting the outside of a Simons fashion store.  (The Canadian Press)

"Even now as I seek help to end my life—there is still so much beauty. You just have to be brave enough to say it," the woman continues.

As the advertisement ends, the woman’s name, known only as Jennyfer, as well the dates of her birth and death, fade into the screen as the camera hovers over a rocky beach.  

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Ahead of the commercial's release, the fashion company released a five-minute interview with Peter Simons, the company’s chief merchant, to outline their motivations and thinking behind the delicate subject. 

Simons, during the interview, said that it was important to tell Jennyfer’s story and to try and create a "ripple" in which people can find the strength and courage to see beauty, even amidst life’s more difficult moments. 

An image from Canadian fashion retailer Simons "All is Beauty" advertising campaign centered on Jennyfer, a woman who chose physician-assisted suicide.  (Simons )

He admitted that he was scared for the world to see the campaign but hoped that viewers would look deeper and attempt to see the "hard beauty" that he saw in the way Jennyfer chose to live her life. 

"At some point I think you have to decide in life what you want to do and is your heart in a generous place—and then you have to create a new reality. And you can question yourself and never do anything. But if your heart is in our right place then I think you just have to forge forward," he said. 

However, some on social media appeared to reject the advertisement’s intent, with several calling out the company for a commercial centered around suicide.

One Twitter user, BowTiedRanger, called the commercial "dystopian" and "demonic."

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"A business model of ‘you're not worth saving, kill yourself’ is pretty 2022," RedState Deputy Managing Editor Brandon Morse tweeted. 

An image of Jennyfer, a woman who chose physician-assisted suicide, and the subject of Canadian fashion retailer Simons' "All is Beauty" campaign.  (Simons )

The online backlash is likely to be unsurprising to Simons, which has been transparent about the campaign’s controversial and delicate subject matter in press releases since the project was announced. 

More than 30,000 Canadians have ended their lives through assisted since 2016, when the country’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) law was first introduced.

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In 2021, nearly one in 30 deaths recorded in Canada were the result of assisted suicide death.