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Public backlash over sexist Bic Women’s Day ad

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On Women’s Day Bic shared the following ad with their Facebook users: 

bic sexist ad
Picture: Facebook


It reads: “Look like a girl, Act like a lady, Think like a man, Work like a boss. #HappyWomensDay ”

Unsurprisingly the public’s reaction was less than positive. Men and women are calling the ad “sexist”, “misogynist” and “disgraceful” to name but a few.

This is not the first time that Bic has been accused of sexism. The pen brand was heavily ridiculed for creating a Bic For Her line – smaller, lighter, pink pens “designed to fit comfortably in a woman’s hand”.

Thousands of outraged women across the world took to traditional and social media to express the ridiculousness of this campaign.

Fin24 spoke to Wandile Setlhodi, marketing manager at Bic.

"So basically this post, it was not meant to be offensive in any way because we had intended it to be empowering and in no way did we want to offend anyone. Some of our followers actually did like it. We didn't think that it would get this uproar; it was really a motivation for women, women who aspire to reach their dreams."

Some of the most popular responses on social media below:

bic facebook comments

bic facebook comments

bic facebook comments

bic facebook comments

Article by Lili Radloff

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