“An advertisement juxtaposing male astronauts with a woman sitting by a stroller, and another depicting two hapless dads, are the first casualties of a British ban on gender stereotypes in advertising.
The ads, for Volkswagen and Philadelphia cream cheese, were investigated by the UK Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) after viewers complained they perpetuated gender stereotypes.
The Volkswagen commercial shows a number of primarily male people taking part in adventurous activities. It prompted three complaints from viewers, and the ASA found it showed a woman “engaged in a stereotypical care-giving role.”
A second commercial for Philadelphia cream cheese showed two dads looking after their children at a restaurant with a conveyer belt.
“We considered, however, that the men were portrayed as somewhat hapless and inattentive, which resulted in them being unable to care for the children effectively,” they added. “We did not consider that the use of humour in the ad mitigated the effect of the harmful stereotype.”
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