GENDER ZEITGEIST
Woolworths’ Valentine’s Day advertising campaign fail
After social media outrage over its stereotyping of women, Woolworths withdraws its Valentine’s Day advertisement — just as a top research company releases a report on new insights into the role that gender plays in brand strategy
The spotlight being placed on a "gender zeitgeist" by new market research could perhaps not have come at a more relevant time. Woolworths is still reeling from its Valentine’s Day campaign widely perceived to be gender offensive. Woolworths’ official apology, after it quickly binned the campaign, was that it was a "light-hearted reference to the clichéd idiosyncrasies within so many relations, rather than any gender stereotyping". But social media and customers have slammed the retailer. Two tweets summed up the outrage: "I’m a woman and I don’t think stereotyping vanity, dishonesty and eating disorders is romantic or cute"; and "Wow Woolworths SA! Are these sad stereotypes from the binary world the best you could do for Valentine’s Day? So weak, so disappointing." The campaign featured messages, with the women’s section reading: "She orders a salad and then steals your chips; she takes forever to get ready; she snuggles you to the edge of the bed; she uses your razor to shave her l...
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