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Tuesday, February 15, 2011

No Bouquets For This


I was saddened first and then annoyed to see the notice above in a local branch of a continental chain store advertising its Valentine's Day bunches of roses.

What exactly is the message? Something like - Men are tight-fisted cheapskates who wouldn't buy a girl a bunch of roses unless there were cheap. An example of sex stereotyping, gender insulting, belittling nasty advertisement which should attract as much condemnation as sneering at female football officials or calling Mexicans typically lazy rightly did recently.

Part of Section 2.17 of the the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland Code states: "Marketing communications should respect the principle of the equality of men and women. They should avoid sex stereotyping and any exploitation or demeaning of men and women."

Complaints can easily and quickly be made on the ASAI website.

I bought my roses in the local florists.
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4 comments:

  1. chiccorealFebruary 15, 2011 at 11:59 AM

    Dear Michael: I smell a lawsuit! Go Woman Libbers Go! (yes it was tawdry at best...the imps!)

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  2. Mari GFebruary 16, 2011 at 12:46 AM

    Hi Michael
    Aside from the absolute rightness of the point you make,it is uplifting to see some old fashioned romance surviving in the depths of recession...and I mean that in a totally non-biased way!
    Hope you had a lovely Valentine's!
    Mari

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  3. niamhFebruary 16, 2011 at 1:06 AM

    I'm glad i didnt see this! It's infuriating!
    "ladies" for a start, and trying to guilt trip men into buying by addressing their "ladies"... and the assumption that we are silly harridans demanding roses, and if its the place i'm thinking of, you can get three bottles of mouth scouring red wine for the same price! (and their flowers have no scent)

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  4. Michael FarryFebruary 16, 2011 at 9:24 AM

    Thanks, I did wonder if I was being a bit contrary. I emailed a complaint but got no response yet. If I do I'll let the world know.

    ReplyDelete