Woolworths received a clobbering on social media and has withdrawn their Valentine’s Day campaign after mense slammed them for sexist adverts.
The retailer said the campaign was intended to be a light-hearted reference to cliché characteristics in many relationships.
However, consumers have criticised Woolworths for gender stereotyping.
@nickyschrire tweeted: “I have no idea what conversations did or didn’t happen in the marketing department that resulted in this god awful Valentines campaign from @WOOLWORTHS_SA. It’s like there was no team meet and one person took their idea and ran rogue with it. How embarrassing for the company.”
I have no idea what conversations did or didn’t happen in the marketing department that resulted in this god awful Valentines campaign from @WOOLWORTHS_SA😶 It’s like there was no team meet and one person took their idea and ran rogue with it. How embarrassing for the company. pic.twitter.com/ZOioi5wTuQ
— Nicky Schrire (@nickyschrire) February 4, 2019
The female version of the advert reads: “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 legs; She makes you her Instagram husband; She says she’s ‘fine’ when you know she’s not; She’s the light of your life. LoveAlwaysWins”
And the male version reads: “He touches your hair; He doesn’t know the title to “your song”; He makes plans without telling you; He uses the wrong emojis in text messages; He believes he’s entitled to the remote control; He thinks he knows better than Siri; He’s the man of your dreams. #LoveAlwaysWins”
Brent Lindeque, from GoodThingsGuy.com, then came up with his own suggestions, tweeting for the female version: “She orders a salad and chips to share. She gets ready and always looks on point. She snuggles you in bed. She sometimes helps you shave. She makes you her Instagram husband. She’s honest, kind and beautiful. She’s the light of your life.#Woolworths #LoveAlwaysWins #iFixedIt”