In the past two weeks, advertisements from Canadian underwear brand Knix began popping up across consumers’ Facebook feeds. Among the sponsored posts was an image of a pair of scuffed-up heels next to a discarded pair of underwear in what looks to be a gutter, accompanied by the caption: “What happens in Knix Leakproof stays in Knix Leakproof.”

The reaction to the ad — which many interpreted as depicting the aftermath of a sexual assault — was swift. “WTF knixwear,” wrote one Twitter user who had been fed the ad. “This is at best a terrible facebook campaign for your underwear while at worst feels like some allusion to sexual violence?!” Another woman tweeted: “Pretty big misstep by Toronto based brand @knixwear. Interested to hear some thoughts/interpretations of the ad in question …”

The misstep was all the more jarring given that Knix uses what’s become known as “empowerment marketing” to sell its products. Its ads typically feature women of a wide range of sizes and skin tones modelling its leak-proof underwear and swimwear, and the mission statement on its website reads: “We believe it’s time that all women lived totally, unapologetically free. Free from judgement. Free from self-doubt. And free to be yourself.”

The Toronto-based brand issued an apology in a blog post on September 12. Written by the company’s founder, Joanna Griffiths, it reads in part: “We made a mistake that triggered a very intense and difficult topic for some people. For this we are extremely sorry.” Griffiths goes on to explain that the post was never meant to be public and was actually ideated in an internal brainstorming session she calls an “Ad Hack-a-Thon,” where employees from across the company were tasked with coming up with marketing ideas for the brand. According to Griffiths, 60 ideas were generated at this session, and several weeks later, “through an internal miscommunication,” all of those of those mocked-up ads went live.

Addressing the specific content that was the subject of backlash, Griffiths went on to say that it was intended as a parody of “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” She writes: “I can promise you there was no intention to connect our product and brand with sexual assault and violence and there is no one within our company who would make light of something so serious.” In the same blog, Griffiths announced that Knix would be donating $15,000 worth of underwear ($1 for each consumer served the ad) to CAMH, and also donating $5 for every person who visited the company’s Life After Birth photography installation this week, timed to the launch of its new maternity line.

That was on September 12. The next day, Griffiths posted on her personal Instagram Stories that she was becoming increasingly “frustrated” that this mistake had been written about by media outlets including Yahoo, The New York Post and the Daily Mail. “I’m getting mad,” she said, at “click-baity media that try to make a story out of nothing and do a lot of harm to companies that are doing good.” She went on to say that her response to other journalists who reached out for comment would be: “You’re vultures. You’re preying on female-led companies that are trying to do good, and you’re trying to make it feel like it’s a catfight or there’s something going on, and there isn’t.”

Griffiths reiterated that the company had admitted to making a mistake and that measures including sensitivity training for employees were underway to make sure it isn’t repeated.

These measures would be well worth the investment for a company whose stock in trade is women’s self-esteem.