Christina Haack’s champagne promo sparks backlash as fans weigh in online

Christina Haack’s latest business move was designed to sell champagne, but it ended up uncorking a debate about taste, branding, and what you expect from a home-renovation star. Her sultry promo with boyfriend Chris LaRocca quickly drew sharp reactions online, with some fans cheering the bold pivot and others accusing her of going too far. You are left watching a familiar reality figure test the limits of how provocative a lifestyle brand can be before loyal followers start to push back.

The ad that set off the conversation

You first see the controversy in the visuals. In the champagne spot, Haack leans into a highly stylized, intimate setup with Chris LaRocca, framing the drink as part of a steamy couple’s moment rather than a casual toast. The camera lingers on their chemistry, with close contact, suggestive posing, and a focus on bodies as much as on bottles, turning what could have been a standard product reel into a mini romance vignette that feels closer to a music video than a traditional beverage ad. That creative choice is what immediately split viewers, because it asks you to buy into a fantasy that is far more sensual than the HGTV persona you are used to.

When you watch the clip that circulated across social feeds, the tone is unmistakably “spicy,” from the lighting to the choreography of how Haack and LaRocca touch and look at each other. The promo’s aesthetic, which you can see echoed in coverage of the champagne campaign, positions the drink as an accessory to seduction rather than a backdrop to entertaining or celebration. That framing is a deliberate branding swing, and it is the reason the ad did not just blend into the usual stream of celebrity product pushes but instead became a flashpoint for debate about what kind of image Haack is now selling.

How fans reacted across platforms

Once the promo hit your feed, the reaction was immediate and polarized. Some viewers praised Haack for embracing a more daring side, arguing that she is entitled to evolve beyond the safe, family-focused image that made her famous. Others, though, felt blindsided by the tone, saying the ad looked more like a racy perfume commercial than something tied to a home and lifestyle figure they had watched for years. That split shows up clearly in reporting that details how the “spicy” visuals with LaRocca prompted a wave of critical comments from followers who said they were uncomfortable with the shift in style.

As the clip circulated, you could see that divide deepen in the way fans framed their responses. Supporters highlighted Haack’s confidence and chemistry with LaRocca, while critics questioned whether the raunchy mood was appropriate for someone whose audience includes viewers who discovered her through renovation shows and family-centric storylines. Coverage of the backlash notes that the champagne ad with her boyfriend Chris LaRocca became a lightning rod in comment sections, with some users calling it empowering and others labeling it “cringe” or “try-hard,” a reminder that the same image can read as either liberation or miscalculation depending on your expectations.

Why the promo feels different from Haack’s usual brand

Part of why you may feel jarred by the champagne spot is that it clashes with the persona Haack has spent years building on television. On her renovation shows, she is framed as a hands-on designer and mother, juggling construction timelines with school runs and co-parenting. The new ad, by contrast, sidelines that domestic, practical image in favor of a glossy, hyper-romantic fantasy that barely nods to the world of real estate or interiors. That pivot is what some viewers interpret as a disconnect, because it asks you to reconcile the contractor boots and paint swatches with a lingerie-adjacent aesthetic in a single brand story.

Commentary on the campaign underscores that tension, pointing out that the sultry champagne promo lands differently when you remember Haack’s long association with family-friendly cable programming. You are not just reacting to a standalone commercial, you are weighing it against years of episodes where she was presented as a relatable working parent navigating divorces, business partnerships, and home flips. When that history meets a new, more overtly sexualized product push, it can feel to some fans like a rebrand that arrived overnight, even if Haack herself sees it as a natural extension of her personal life and entrepreneurial ambitions.

The role of Instagram and video in amplifying the backlash

The reaction did not build slowly; it spiked because the ad was engineered for social media. Haack shared the promo on Instagram, where you are used to seeing her renovation reveals, family snapshots, and behind-the-scenes glimpses of projects. Dropping a highly produced, intimate champagne spot into that mix guaranteed attention, but it also guaranteed scrutiny. Once the video appeared on her grid, the comments filled with side-by-side comparisons to her usual content, with some followers saying they missed the more grounded posts and others insisting this was a refreshing change of pace.

You can see how the visual language of the ad was tailored for short-form platforms by watching the stylized clips that mirror the look and feel of the champagne video, where quick cuts, close-ups, and moody lighting are designed to stop your scroll. That same aesthetic shows up in the way the promo was teased and reshared, including on Haack’s own Instagram post, which placed the sensual imagery directly in front of followers who originally signed up for renovation inspiration. The format made it easy for the clip to be reposted, dissected, and memed, turning what might have been a niche brand play into a broader cultural talking point.

Where the criticism is coming from

When you look closely at the backlash, it is not just about one ad; it is about what people think Haack represents. Some critics argue that the champagne promo feels like a calculated attempt to chase virality by leaning into shock value, rather than a natural extension of her expertise in design and real estate. They point to the raunchier moments in the spot as evidence that the campaign is more interested in stirring conversation than in selling the actual product, and they question whether that strategy risks alienating the core audience that helped build her platform in the first place.

Reports that detail how the raunchy new ad was “slammed” by some viewers highlight recurring themes in the criticism: discomfort with the level of intimacy on display, concern about younger fans encountering the content, and frustration that a home-renovation figure appears to be pivoting into overtly sexual branding. At the same time, you can see a countercurrent of support in the way others defend Haack’s right to experiment and to present herself as a romantic partner as well as a professional. That push and pull reflects a broader tension you see across influencer culture, where audiences often want authenticity but still react strongly when a familiar figure steps outside the lane they were first introduced in.

What it means for Haack’s evolving public image

For you as a viewer, the champagne promo functions as a test case for how far a reality star can stretch a personal brand before it starts to feel unrecognizable. Haack is not just selling a drink; she is selling a version of herself that is more glamorous, more sensual, and more intertwined with LaRocca than what you typically see on a renovation set. That evolution may appeal if you are invested in her personal happiness and enjoy seeing her lean into a new chapter, but it can also feel like a departure if you primarily valued her as a down-to-earth contractor and designer whose private life stayed mostly in the background.

The broader media ecosystem has already started to frame the champagne spot as part of a pattern, comparing it with other polished video projects that showcase Haack and LaRocca as a couple. In that context, the champagne ad sits alongside other stylized clips, such as the sleek visuals in a recent video that similarly highlights their chemistry and aspirational lifestyle. When you connect those dots, the backlash looks less like a reaction to a one-off misstep and more like a referendum on Haack’s long-term branding strategy: whether she can successfully transition from “relatable renovator” to “luxury lifestyle figure” without losing the audience that made her a household name.