Swiffer 'Rosie the Riveter' Ad Pulled After Criticism, Accusations of Sexism (PHOTO)
Swiffer's "Rosie the Riveter" ad has been pulled after reactions to it came back mostly negative. The cleaning supplies company copied the iconic image of Rosie, who represents women in the workplace and their economic empowerment, to show a woman doing chores using a mop.
The Swiffer "Rosie the Riveter" ad was first spotted by Heather Beschizza over the weekend, who noted that the company was using the famed WWI-era Westinghouse Electric image to promote nearly the opposite of its intended use.
"We can do it! Because cleaning a kitchen is a woman's work #swiffer #sexist," she tweeted alongside the image of a woman in the classic red bandanna.
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From there, the image went viral, being criticized by many throughout the Twittersphere, on blogs, and on Facebook.
"Swiffer tells women 'We can do it!' 'It' in this case being housework," the Women's Fund of New Hampshire tweeted. "We're super unimpressed."
"If you can't see why it's offensive, or at least incredibly ignorant, to use her likeness to market a fancy broom, then you're not looking," Buzzfeed wrote. "The whole point is that Rosie symbolizes women's departure from being solely responsible for homemaking. This ad is backwards."
Procter & Gamble, who owns Swiffer, took down the ads quickly in response to the criticism, and used social media to respond to much of the outrage.
"It was not our intention to offend any group with the image, and we are working to make changes to where it is used as quickly as possible," they said in a statement released on Facebook and Twitter. They also purchased a promoted tweet on the microblogging site to make sure their statement was heard.
"We are aware of the concerns regarding an image in a Swiffer ad. Our core purpose is to make cleaning easier for all consumers, regardless of who is behind the handle of our products," a Swiffer representative emailed to the Huffington Post.
