The reactions to the Tate McRae Calvin Klein ads aren’t overwhelmingly positive.
Yes, the singer looks incredible — and hot.
The dance looks a little awkward, however. (There’s a reason for that.)
And the memes? The memes are a little unkind.
Why are people comparing Tate McRae to a snail?
Calvin Klein is featuring Tate McRae for their Fall 2026 advertisements.
Like most worthwhile clothing ads, the campaign seems to be more about hiring a really hot person than anything that the clothing is doing.
(That is not a criticism! Obsessing over clothing models is an adolescent rite of passage for a reason.)
In the ad, you can see McRae very clearly wears jeans. They’re not even low-riders, but hey also don’t need to be.
She dances around to “Groove Is in the Heart” by Deee-Lite.
As you can see, McRae’s dancing looks a little awkward.
In her defense, that is likely because she reportedly only had about 20 minutes to learn the dance for the ad.
(Learning choreography is challenging! We learn best by practicing, especially if we get to sleep between practices in order to better internalize our experiences.)
Critics have said that it shows. Another flavor of critics have asked why other dances that they’ve seen appear to be nearly as awkward.
That’s not to say that the ad has been universally panned. Numerous people have come out of the woodwork to express their, well, lust after watching her dance.
Gary the Snail: pic.twitter.com/Ka2i89ao08
— miz irri (@miz_irritating) August 28, 2026
The memes are … unflattering
In response to the ad, some are lampooning Tate McRae.
(It seems that Calvin Klein is not bearing the brunt of the blowback.)
Some have compared her to Gary the Snail, a fan-favorite character from Spongebob Squarepants.
Others have likened her to sea creatures or to cryptids like the Loch Ness Monster.
Simply put, some found the perhaps-flattering contortions of her body to be so unnatural that it felt cringe.
Tate McRae’s assistant choreographer Mauro Johannes recreates her “Feel the Fit” choreography for Calvin Klein. pic.twitter.com/NjFH8YNo9v
— Tate McRae Crave (@TateMcRaeCrave) August 27, 2026
We can understand why some recoil from this ad’s somewhat hamfisted efforts to be alluring.
It reminds us a little, at times, of over-the-top comic book poses that women, including superheroes, sometimes strike in order to best display their curves to the reader.
At the same time … sometimes memes look a lot like bullying because they seem mean-spirited and excessive.
McRae looks great, as always. She was a sensible pick for the ad.
Hopefully, next time, she’ll have more time to learn choreography so that it can look a little more natural.