In this ad produced by Snickers in Australia, watch actors as construction workers shout empowering statements to women who are walking down the street. Remarks include, “You want to hear a filthy word? Gender bias!” and “You know what I’d like to see? A society in which the objectification of women makes way for gender-neutral interactions, free from assumptions and expectations. You go girl!”
That said, the ad still depicts the stereotype of construction workers shouting at women:
dear @snickers, your native-ad construction workers are still shouting at women. like what they say matters. http://t.co/dpSAuKdDoh
— Caitlin Kelly (@caitlin__kelly) March 26, 2014
Tagline at the end of the #snickersaustralia advert is confusing. So, when men are full they go back to being sexist? http://t.co/s25mNFTimH
— Gina Willcox (@GinaWillcox88) March 27, 2014
In addition, the “You’re not yourself when you’re hungry” tagline at the end of the commercial has an offensive message about class, Ad Week argues: “By saying blue-collar guys ‘aren’t themselves’ when they’re being polite, it pretty clearly implies they’re otherwise a bunch of misogynistic boors.”
As one YouTube commenter jokingly summed up the spot, “If this is the way men act when they’re hungry I will never feed them again.”
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Write to Olivia B. Waxman at olivia.waxman@time.com