With
this advertisement, Swiffer takes Rosie the Riveter out of the factory where
she can work and contribute to the war and the economy and sends her back to
the kitchen – right where every stereotypical advertisement of women was
before. Rosie the Riveter stands for female empowerment in the workplace and in
many cases, inspired housewives to file into working careers. With this
advertisement, it’s as if Swiffer is saying that women actually belong in the
kitchen, cleaning up after the household no matter how much they think, “We can
do it!”
There
was obvious backlash against Swiffer from this sexist advertisement. In the
Huffington Post Article, “Swiffer Says It Will Remove Rosie the Riveter Images From Its Ads," Heather Beschizza tweeted, “We can do it! Because cleaning kitchens
in woman’s work. #swiffer #sexist.” In the same article, Jason Weisberger,
Boing Boing blogger, said, “I love the clear tribute to an important historical
image done in such a way as to piss on its legacy.”
Swiffer
claims in the article “Swiffer Feels the Heat After Putting Rosie the Riveter Back in the Kitchen" from Adweek that their “core value is to make cleaning
easier, no matter who’s behind the handle.” Yet, even that statement poses an
ethical dilemma. Rosie the Riveter was a symbol of change for women to step out
of the stereotypes that bound them. That ad does not depict a male holding the
Steam Boost. And, the commercial does not have a man cleaning the kitchen. The
piece of equipment is a Swiffer. It’s highly doubtful that anyone “who’s behind
the handle” wouldn’t be able to clean easily with it, regardless of gender or
even age. And, because this is the case, why did Swiffer deem it ethically
appropriate to use a woman in the commercial, cleaning a kitchen and then Rosie
the Riveter in the ad if the company was trying to show “anyone” could use its
product. It quite blatantly looks like the Swiffer Company was targeting a
specific audience.
Which
leads into the next point. Even though this add is now two years old, the rules
of feminism and the progressive thinking about the 21st century has
not changed much within the last two years. As a society, America is constantly
able to blog on social media and post opinions about political events and
advertisements such as this. Feminism is real and the lack of equality is a
real issue. Swiffer violated its ethical standards by taking an inspiring image
that spoke volumes for feminists and using it to stereotypical characterize
women to be sent back to the kitchen. Especially in today’s society of so many
voicing their opinions and sticking up for what they believe in, Swiffer should
have known that this advertisement was one of the worst ethical decisions to
get an audience’s attention.
Iconic figures are often used in unusual ways by advertisers. It does seem to be a bit of a slap to use a symbol of female empowerment to sell household cleaning products. I might question the legitimacy of the outrage, however, as Rosie the Riveter is from history - the extreme language about this is geared toward the sympathetic audience who would already agree with the assessment. Others, even if they didn't like the ad, might find the blogger's comments an over-reaction.
ReplyDeleteFeminism is certainly real. Lack of equality is certainly real - although many of the statistics used to "prove" inequality are taken out of context. In recent years, the "calling out" of companies or individuals who would diverge from the feminist agenda has been made with increased urgency. The label "feminist" itself, because of the anger associated with its proponents, has become a bit tainted as well. I hope I don't sound like I'm "man-splaining" when I suggest that sometimes the claims of feminists are based on the assumption that everybody - every company, every manager, every person - is pre-disposed to discriminate against women, and that feminists must be vigilant in fighting them. When you are holding a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
Keep working! Good thinking here!