A sexist ad, posted by dating website Match.com was recently banned by the British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) earlier this month – four months after it was posted on popular video-sharing app TikTok in June.
ASA is an independent regulator that enforces the country’s ad rules.
The clip showed a subservient woman giving a man a protein drink while he has his feet up, organising socks and towels, and turning the TV on for him and throughout the video, a woman’s voice was heard saying, “ I will make him his protein drink after the gym. I always make sure he has a fresh towel and socks after his shower. I put the football on for him every evening.”
At the end of the ad titled “Things that make me realise I’m a keeper”, the woman adds, “Find your keeper via Match. Go download the Match app today.”
British ASA said the Match.com TikTok video “perpetuated negative gender stereotypes and was likely to cause harm and widespread offence”. It rejected the dating app’s argument that the video aimed to highlight “small genuine acts of kindness within a relationship.”
A 2015 sexy-st ad for Orchard eatery got women … and men… bummed
Singapore did not escape the onslaught of sexist ads.
In 2014, a promotional poster by SAFRA came under criticism for being sexist and distasteful towards women. Spotted at a bus stop in Upper Thomson, it had two men at a gym, with a woman in the foreground and the two men were depicted being distracted by the woman.
The caption in the poster says, “A great workout, good friends and some healthy distractions. … There will never be a dull moment here. Get more out of life with our membership.”
In a letter to SAFRA, leading women’s rights and gender equality group AWARE Singapore wrote, “… persistent unwanted leering, leading to offensive remarks and/or sexual harassment or even assault is something that women are much more likely to experience from men”.
“Your ad contributes to this culture. By referring to women as ‘healthy distractions’ for men, it tells men that the women using the gym are objects to be stared at, whether or not the women are okay with it. It tells men that it is legitimate for them to engage in behaviour that might make women feel belittled, uncomfortable or threatened, as a common precursor to non-consensual harassment,” the group wrote.
Sexist ads did not stop there.
A year later in 2015, eatery OverEasy teased the “palate” of potential patrons when it was opening a second outlet in Orchard Road but being “overtly clever” with its ad left a bad taste in the mouth of many.
OverEasy, which was taking over the 3,500 sq ft space at Liat Towers, put up a large billboard featuring three scantily-clad women exposing their buttocks with the tagline, “Seriously sexy buns. Two are better than one. Smack that, Aug 2015”.
Reports were made to Singapore’s advertising watchdog, the Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore (ASAS). It was established in 1976 and relied on voluntary compliance from industry stakeholders such as advertisers and media owners.
ASAS, which is an advisory council under the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE), flexes its muscles by getting media owners to withhold ads that flout the rules. Feedback on sexist ads fell from 307 in 2013 to 272 in 2015, while feedback about online advertisements doubled from 45 in 2014 to 91.
But when TheHomeGround Asia approached ASAS to find out how many complaints ASAS has received in the past year for sexism, negative gender stereotyping in advertisements and commercials and whether the watchdog police dating apps and sites to ensure there is such stereotyping, both ASAS and its chairman, Professor Ang Peng Hwa, declined to comment.
President of the Association of Advertising and Marketing Singapore (AAMS) Goh Shufen said, “In this social media first era, consumers own the most powerful voice and vote. Brands simply cannot afford to be tone deaf to these obvious stereotypes that are no longer acceptable for the young generation the ad is targeting.”
AAMS, however, does not police advertisements.
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