Anger over sexist government stay-at-home coronavirus ad which shows women mopping and ironing while a man watches TV
A COVID ad has been branded 'sexist' and sparked massive outrage for showing women mopping and ironing while a man watches TV.
Ministers were forced to withdraw the advertisement which was blasted as "shameful" and quickly deleted after being posted to Downing Street's social media pages.
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The ad is part of renewed efforts to get Brits to follow lockdown rules and stay at home.
But in each frame it depicts women either cleaning or caring for children.
One shows a woman holding a baby next to what appears to be an ironing board, while another shows a woman sitting down homeschooling her children.
Only one panel shows a man, who is relaxing on the sofa with his family.
People furiously ripped apart the ad as "something out of the 1950s".
Behavioural and data scientist Dr Pragya Agarwal slammed the ad, saying: "Reinforcing the view that it is a woman’s job to homeschool, clean, do the childcare. Are the men out there fighting a war or something?"
Another angry person stormed on Twitter: "This is awful.
"It should say, 'Stay at home, Mums. Do the ironing whilst looking after children, Mums. Home school your kids, Mums.
"Teach your daughters to do the cleaning, Mums. Oh and make sure you make family time relaxing with your Partner, Mums."
The image of the man relaxing also infuriated people, with one person saying: "So 'glad' the man made it back home in time for telly after the cleaning, cooking and home-schooling was done! Who made this?"
Others pointed out it wasn't just insulting to women but also to men who have been homeschooling kids.
One person blasted: "It’s bloody insulting to everybody! My husband has done the lions share of homeschooling and childcare because I work for the NHS and have worked throughout lockdown like all the other key workers."
Another said: "I am truly shocked by this. It is not even a reflection of reality – talk about sending us backwards."
It comes after another controversial set of advertisements designed to guilt-trip Brits into staying at home.
The harrowing ads depicted images of sick people on ventilators and NHS workers struggling to cope with the pandemic.
One said: "Look into her eyes, and tell her you only shop when necessary?"
A spokesperson for No10 said: "It has been withdrawn and removed from the campaign and I will make clear it does not reflect the Government's view on women.
"As I'm sure you've seen we have provided and produced information throughout the pandemic, this does not reflect our view on women and we have removed it."
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