Mary Bowerman

USA TODAY Network

Bloomingdale's apologized on Tuesday amid criticism that a holiday advertisement appeared to encourage date rape.

The advertisement is part of a newly released Christmas catalog and features a woman laughing and looking away as a male model looks suggestively at her back. The text on the ad reads: “Spike your best friend’s eggnog when they’re not looking.”

On Twitter, many people noted that the advertisement appeared to encourage date rape. Jennifer Storm tweeted: "Hey Bloomingdales, it's over. I'm sorry, it's not me, it's you and your #rape ad."

Another person tweeted: "Nothing gets me in the Christmas spirit more than ads condoning rape culture!"

In response to the backlash over the advertisement, Bloomingdale's issued a statement on Facebook Tuesday.

"In reflection of your feedback, the copy we used in our recent catalog was inappropriate and in poor taste," Bloomingdale's said. The company said it "sincerely apologizes" for "this error in judgement."

Sarah Murnen, a pyschology professor at Kenyon College in Ohio, told the Washington Post that she used the image for a gender studies class to talk about consent.

"It's sending the message that it is okay to have sex with people who are incapable of consent," Murnen told the Washington Post. "These are decisions that should be made consciously and willingly."

Others noted that this holiday season has been full of outrage. Some questioned why people were more upset over Starbucks plain holiday cup design than Bloomingdale's ad.

In April, Bud Light experienced a similar advertising fiasco with a beer label that many believed reinforced an alcohol-fueled rape culture.

The full label read: "The perfect beer for removing 'no' from your vocabulary for the night." The brewer said it intended the label to be a fun way of invoking the ongoing "Up for Whatever" advertising campaign in which young drinkers say yes to trying new things. Not everyone took it that way.

On Facebook, some said Bloomingdale's apology was not enough.

"This is a massively gross understatement and trivializes the harm ads like this do," Amanda Munson wrote.

Bloomingdale's offered no comment on how the advertisement was approved.

Contributing: Trevor Hughes