The world celebrated International Women's Day on March 8, 2022. We have seen various brands sharing Women's Day-special messages as a part of their marketing strategy to impress their women consumers. One such initiative by e-commerce giant Flipkart went wrong when they were called out for sharing messages associating women with kitchen appliances. On the Women's Day, Flipkart sent out a message that read, "Dear Customer, This Women's Day, let's celebrate You. Get Kitchen Appliances from Rs.299 [sic]." The message didn't go well with the people on the internet, who criticised Flipkart for being "sexist".
It all started when a Twitter user took a screenshot of the message and posted on his handle and wrote alongside, "Can you spot the problem here?"
Read the tweet here:
In no time the post garnered attention with people stating Flipkart's marketing strategy was offensive. "It's offensive Why women are being identified with kitchen appliance...only ?? Whole world is ours certainly kitchen is not our whole world!! No thanks!!" wrote one.
Another comment read, "Celebrating Women's Day by promoting, perpetuating and celebrating gender roles. If irony had a definition this should be it."
Flipkart in no time took to their social media to share an apology for their marketing misfire and wrote, "We messed up and we are sorry. We did not intend to hurt anyone's sentiments and apologise for the Women's Day message shared earlier."
That's not all. Twitter users went on to share various other examples where brands associated women with kitchen and appliances, which perpetuated negative gender stereotype.