Pen manufacturer Bic South Africa posted a photo on its Facebook page in honor of the country's National Women's Day on Sunday, which it later removed and apologized for after a swift backlash.
The post featured a stock photo of a smiling woman in a business suit, accompanied by the words "Look like a girl, act like a lady, think like a man, work like a boss." The idea apparently being that women, girls really, excel at looking good, while men excel at thinking.
[seealso slug="i-look-like-an-engineer"]
Just to reiterate: this was posted as a gesture intended to celebrate women.
The original post was eventually deleted from the company's Facebook page, but the damage had already been done. Naturally, the Internet could be counted upon to have a field day with the sexist gaffe. Twitter users set about photoshopping the original advertisement:
Dear @Bic_SA please help. My little girl fingers can't handle your man pens. What should I do? pic.twitter.com/PCM7PuoX19— Anne Hirsch (@Anne_Hirsch) August 11, 2015
We made a better advert for Bic! (cc @LucyMazuma) Please free free to share. pic.twitter.com/wiYqLCwFJ1— Lowri Williams (@flowri) August 11, 2015
#epicfail for Bic pens with their #happywomensday post. Beyond comprehension. Oh - and the viral answer. pic.twitter.com/cZ0wBwEtNg— molocapetown (@molocapetown) August 11, 2015
I tried to make that Bic advert a bit more relatable pic.twitter.com/d0YLcdqxXM— TechnicallyRon (@TechnicallyRon) August 11, 2015
Bic South Africa issued an apology on its page, assuring fans that it didn't intend to offend anyone, and that the ad should have never been posted.
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However, commenters were quick to point out that the post wasn't the first time that Bic has been accused of blatantly sexist advertising, and that its "For Her" line of pens in 2012 was met with raised eyebrows from many women
