Sweden ’s advertising watchdogruled thatan employer ’s enlisting post on Facebook and Instagram discriminated against women . The offending content was the inclusion of the Distracted Boyfriend meme .
The Distracted Boyfriend meme , also have sex as Man front at Other Woman , is a stock photo of a man looking at a womanhood facing out from him as another adult female looks on disapprovingly , with the implication that the man is acting disloyal . Bahnhof , a Swedish internet divine service supplier , used the meme to portray the man as you , the girlfriend as “ your current workplace ” and the woman in the foreground as the companionship .
The Swedish Advertising Ombudsman , known as Reklamombudsmannen ( RO ) in Swedish , decree that Banhof ’s use of this meme — which it states undervalues women and objectifies the charwoman in red — in a line of work ad violates Article 4 of the International Chamber of Commerce ’s rules for advertising and marketing communication theory , which states that“marketing communications should abide by human dignity and not incite or condone any form of discrimination or anti - social conduct . ”
As of Wednesday afternoon , the post is still on Facebook . The Swedish ad guard dog is ego - regulatory , meaning it ca n’t legally force the company to take down the Emily Post . Bahnhof arguedin a Facebook postthat it used the meme to carry that it was a more attractive employer than your current workplace , and that the man and woman in the meme were n’t to be taken literally in context . This is thetypical use of the meme — not to use it as a fomite to objectify char , but to illustrate other nonobjective ideas . The stock image has been used as a meme to render political political theory , staring at the sun , and , originally , Phil Collins ’ musical tasting .
But Sweden ’s ombudsman found the utilization of the meme to be irrelevant — and in good turn , discriminatory — when used in the context of recruit people for jobs at a technical school company . “ The referee sharpen out that the image itself is a well - known image on the internet , a so - called meme , and that it is stand for to be humorous , but that does not yet incite a troupe to expend it in its marketing , ” the means wrote in its ruling . “ There is no link between the objections of women and the Bahnhof or the service . ” They also total :
It is of import for employers to be held accountable for the nature of their enlisting ads , especially for the technical school industry , which is known for leave out and discriminating against women . It ’s also become increasingly urgent to regularise the recruitment ads diffuse on Facebook — the program has repeatedlycome under firefor enable employer to exclude sure groups of people from seeing their job advertizement . Bahnhof ’s pillowcase is nuanced , given meme finish gives way to interpretations beyond what ’s seen in the image , but perhaps selecting a photo that can be see to some as sexist for a job endeavor to cast a wide profit is in poor taste . “ If we ’re going to be penalize , ” Bahnhof wrote , “ it ’s for using a way too old and commonplace meme . ”
[ The Guardian ]
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