Talk about a marketing plan gone wrong. Netflix acquired the French film, Mignonnes, which won an award at the Sundance Film Festival. The streamer gave it an English title - Cuties. From writer and director Maïmouna Doucouré, Cuties tells the story of Amy, an 11-year-old Senegalese immigrant who joins a group of dancers at her school and grows aware of her femininity. While the film dealt with the topic sensitively, which earned it critical acclaim with 82% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, someone forgot to give the memo to Netflix's marketing team. The Crown: Netflix Drops The Premiere Date of Season 4, Teases Fans With A Royal Footage (Watch Video).

For starters, Netflix described the movie as "Amy, 11, becomes fascinated with a twerking dance crew." To make matters worse, the poster of Cuties seemed to hypersexualise pre-teen girls. While the point of the movie was to call out the grooming of young women, irony took a plunge with Netflix's promos.

The poster and the description by Netflix are highly misleading of the content of Cuties/Mignonnes.

Here Is A Twitter User Making A Case:

Twitter user took note. Netflix received massive criticism and strong pushback online. Multiple petitions were started asking for the film to be removed. One petition has received 47,000 signatures. Another petition has 65,000 signatures.

"This movie/show is disgusting as it sexualizes an ELEVEN year old for the viewing pleasure of pedophiles and also negatively influences our children," reads the description of the first petition. The Devil All The Time Trailer: Tom Holland, Sebastian Stan and Robert Pattinson's Next for Netflix is a Sinful Psychological Thriller (Watch Video).

Netflix took note of the jarring mistake and pulled down the poster, but it was already viral on the internet, so that is of no use. The streamer also changed the description of the film to fit better with the context of the film. The new description reads, "Eleven-year-old Amy starts to rebel against her conservative family’s traditions when she becomes fascinated with a free-spirited dance crew."

Check Out The Retracted Description And The Current Description Here:

Cuties Description (File Image)

"Netflix also issued an apology over the inappropriate promotion of the film: "We're deeply sorry for the inappropriate artwork that we used for Mignonnes/Cuties. It was not OK, nor was it representative of this French film which won an award at Sundance. We’ve now updated the pictures and description."

Aramide A. Tinubu wrote a descriptive review for a website called Shadow and Act. "s Amy and her friends shake, grind and gyrate in the camera, wearing belly tops and booty shorts, Doucouré forces her audience to sit in a paralyzing state of fear. It is deeply uncomfortable to watch prepubescent girls behave in this manner," they wrote, adding, "Cuties quickly shifts to a tone of breathless terror whenever any man appears in the frame, as it is unclear how their presence will impact the girls and women."

This 'fear' that the reviewer talks about was absent from Netflix's original promo campaign for Cuties. But, this seems like an important film in today's when Dance Moms and Toddlers and Tiaras are a reality. Let us hope Cuties gets a release and changes the perception for better.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 21, 2020 01:30 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).