20 outrageously sexist ads you won’t believe existed in Britain this decade
LOVE them or hate them it’s impossible to escape the constant bombardment of ads in Britain today. Whether it’s on the tube, the bus, television or even on your streaming device they seem to be more present in our lives than ever before. And while you may think we have moved on from the outdated […]
LOVE them or hate them it’s impossible to escape the constant bombardment of ads in Britain today.
Whether it’s on the tube, the bus, television or even on your streaming device they seem to be more present in our lives than ever before.
And while you may think we have moved on from the outdated sexist ads of the past, it appears some companies have not quite got with the times.
Here are some of the most outrageous adverts to have hit Britain this decade.
Nightmare before Christmas
Exercise bike company Peloton rode into trouble after its recent Christmas ad found itself at the centre of a sexism scandal.
The firm released an advert in which a woman received a new Peloton bike as a present from her husband.
She goes on to record her fitness transformation and presents the video to her loving hubby the following year.
The ad was entitled ‘The gift that gives back’ but was slammed by many for its ‘misogynistic’ and ‘sexist’ message.
You go ‘girl boss’
Another campaign released this year which needed a rethink was the embarrassing ‘Girl Boss’ ad.
Job site PeoplePerHour came under-fire in November after eagle-eyed commuters spotted several of its controversial ads popping up across London.
Posters appeared on Tube trains showing a picture of a woman with the tag line “You do the girl boss thing. We’ll do the SEO thing”.
The firm was forced apologise after the ad was slammed for its patronising and sexist message.
Not fit for TV
After years of questionable advertising, 2019 finally saw a clampdown on sexists ads with the introduction of new rules allowing watchdogs to ban content.
In August Volkswagen became one of the first casualties of the ruling. The German car giant’s ad showed men living adventurous lifestyles while a woman sat next to a pram.
Volkswagen defended its ad but it was eventually banned by the Advertising Standards Agency which said it “depicted harmful stereotypes”.
Turning up the heat
As many celebrated the beautiful weather in the summer there was one company which looked to cash in on the boiling temperatures.
An ad by air conditioning firm Not Just Cooling appeared on a billboard in Nottingham featuring a picture of a woman with the tagline “Your wife is hot. Better get the air conditioning fixed.”
The advert had already been deemed inappropriate and banned from appearing on the city’s busses but its creator called it a “bit of harmless fun”.
It left many outraged with some describing it as something out on the 1950s.
Stop ‘mansplaining’ Mr Banker
While its intentions may have been good Natwest’s execution of its campaign to make banking more inclusive perhaps could have done with a bit more work.
The banking chain partnered with Stylist magazine to launch an online community for women to “talk straight about banking”.
The bank also produced a letter which was written by a Mr Banker and apologised for patronising and ignoring its female customers over the years.
The campaign was heavily criticised by women who blasted it as “sexist” and an attempt to “mansplain” banking to women.
Natwest defended the campaign while the Stylist Group said it was working with the bank to highlight an important issue and used stereotypes to make a point.
Jumping to conclusions
In July this year a trampoline advert on Amazon came under-fire after claiming only men were able to put the equipment together.
The 40-inch mini bouncer was being sold on Newan’s website for £95. While the ad seemed harmless at first it was the item’s instructions which caused uproar among buyers.
Despite stating the trampoline was suited for adults and children, its installation instructions claimed the elastic rope could be “tricky”.
It said it did not advise for children or women to build it alone and additional assistance from a man “was preferred’.
Many women questioned why they were not deemed capable of building the device alone and slammed the firm for its sexist stance.
Where’s the baby?
Around the same time Volkswagen had its ad banned for breaching UK standards American cheese giant Philadelphia also came in for some criticism.
The company released an ad which showed two men looking after their babies. However, both men lose their youngsters after getting distracted by a piece of Philadelphia cheese.
The ad received more than 100 complaints for its sexist stereotyping before it was later banned by the advertising agency.
‘Great men go down’
At the beginning of the year Harvey Nichols put up new advertising around its Knightsbridge store.
The signs contained the message ‘Great men go down’ which the company claimed was meant to direct people to the menswear on the ground floor.
But others did not see it this way. While some took the supposed double entendre as tongue-in-cheek others were outraged by its “lewd and offensive” message, questioning what would have happened if it had been targeting women instead.
A right balls up
British Football has had a rather good year. The success of the Women’s World Cup, record viewing figures for the women’s game and one of the tightest title races in many years in the men’s premier league were just some highlights.
However in October Manchester City attracted huge waves of criticism after posting an advert searching for a male-only social media influencer.
The club were branded “embarrassing” and “sexist” for not including women in their search.
Man City said it was extremely disappointed with the ad and responded by sacking the PR firm responsible.
Not fit for the road
In 2015 Cardiff gym chain Ufit Fitness caused a stir for its outlandish advertising campaign in the city.
It created billboards which it stuck in traffic heavy areas with the photo of a woman in a thong on an exercise bike. The photo was captioned “There are better things to be stuck behind than the car in front.”
The ad caused outrage on social media with people many slamming it for “objectifying women”.
Not going down well
It wasn’t just sexism that vodka specialist Belvedere was blasted for in its 2012 advertising campaign.
The company tweeted out a disturbing image of what appeared to be a smiling man forcefully grabbing a woman from behind.
The image was made worse by the caption which read “Unlike some people Belvedere always goes down smoothly”.
The ad attracted a host of criticism for its worrying undertones. We’ll let you judge it for yourself.
Are you beach body ready?
Protein World faced huge criticism in 2015 over its adverts which appeared all over London.
Its ads featured a skinny, bikini-clad model with the slogan ‘Are you beach body Ready?’.
Protein World was slammed for the “body shaming” ads which were later banned from the London Underground for their sexist undertones.
It not a yolk
In 2017 Co-op was left with egg on its face after causing uproar over its Easter adverts.
Promoting its new Fairtrade Easter eggs, the supermarket chain paid for several advertisements in national newspapers. The ads showed off the chocolate egg but it was the controversial caption which caused a stir.
It read: “Be a good egg. Treat your daughter for doing the washing up.”
Co-op was slated on social media for its “outrageous sexism” and was later forced to change the ad.
A sticky situation
It appears not even children’s art and craft products are safe from sexist advertising.
In 2014 Pritt Stick managed to get itself into a sticky situation after it ran an ad campaign where it created pink glue sticks with the tag line “Just 4 girls”.
The company was heavily criticised for the exclusively female sticks with many questioning the message the firm was sending to kids.
Period drama
Another London Underground ad that appeared to portray the entirely wrong message was Marsh and Parsons.
The estate agents’ ad featured an older man being embraced by a younger woman with the tag line which appeared to compare them to property.
It read: “A charming period property with a modern extension”.
The ad was slated on social media for its “sexist” and “outdated” message and was pulled down following complaints.
Naughty elf
How could a Christmas tradition of an elf on a shelf be controversial? Well in 2017 Poundland managed to get the festive little character on the naughty list by placing the elf in different graphic positions.
One advert in particular featured the elf dangling a teabag from its crotch into the face a Barbie doll.
The ad provoked a storm of backlash and was later banned.
#Brutallyunrefreshing
In 2016 Coca Cola company created an ad campaign which fell rather flat.
As part of its #BrutallyRefreshing campaign the fizzy drinks creator ran a series of controversial adverts for its Sprite product on Irish Men’s lifestyle website Joe.ie
The ads saw different phrases appear on the site such as “You’re not popular, you’re easy” and “She’s seen more ceilings than Michelangelo”.
Furious customers took to social media branding the ads as “disgusting and degrading” and they were later pulled from the website.
“Must Have” been joking
In 2018 Marks and Spencer found itself embroiled in a sexism scandal.
Shoppers vowed to boycott the change after a photo emerged of one of its shop windows. In the window it declared the the “Must Haves” for men were new suits whilst for women they were “fancy little knickers”.
The window advertisement came in for a barrage of criticism and caused outrage among many feminist groups.
Poor mileage
Although it never aired in Britain this shocking Audi ad comparing women to second hand cars went viral in 2017.
The controversial ad aired in China and showed a mother-in-law inspecting her son’s wife-to-be on their wedding day as if she were a used car.
The add went viral for all the wrong reasons and was slammed for its “disgusting” comparison.
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Safety first
Earlier this year the German government got embroiled in sexism row for its unique idea to tackle cycling safety.
The country’s department for transport produced an ad designed to encourage youngsters to wear cycle helmets which feature male and female models wearing nothing but a helmet and their underwear.
Whilst the ad definitely had the shock factor it was heavily criticised and was labelled “embarrassing and sexist”.
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