The Warehouse apologises after criticism of gender stereotyping in advert

The Warehouse has responded to criticism of its recent ad campaign, which came under scrutiny from the Advertising Standards Authority. Photo / Jason Oxenham

The Warehouse’s incoming chief executive has issued an apology for an advertisement that drew criticism for perpetuating a myth that “girls aren’t good at maths”.

The Advertising Standards Authority received two complaints and ruled the ad was likely to cause “serious offence” and ordered it to be removed, which it now has.

Initially, The Warehouse defended the ad, arguing that “long division is not generally learned until around Year 5″, and that “the backpack itself is the type that a very young child might own, likely age group 3-5 years”.

Incoming Warehouse Group chief executive Mark Stirton has issued an apology for an ad that drew criticism from the public and the Advertising Standards Authority.

But in a serious course-correction, incoming chief executive Mark Stirton said The Warehouse “absolutely got this wrong, and we’re sorry”.

“We deeply regret creating an advertisement that implies girls are in some way inferior in terms of their ability to do maths, or anything else for that matter is completely unacceptable, especially as a business with a legacy of doing good,” Stirton said.

“The advertisement was signed off internally and we are making changes to our processes and sign-offs with our marketing team and agency partners to ensure this cannot happen again.”

The ad in question featured a child’s light-purple school backpack set against a pink background and the tagline: “Can’t do long division”.

The ad was promoting The Warehouse’s Red Bag initiative, and the point that it raises more than $1 million every year for New Zealand communities.

The Warehouse told the authority it would take on feedback from the complainants and, in future, consider the overall stereotypes and other potentially relevant factors, the authority reported.

The backtrack follows an opinion piece from Cecilia Robinson, who called on The Warehouse to “Own it. Learn from it. And just apologise”.

“This was a missed opportunity for The Warehouse. What could have been a moment to lead with humility, a genuine apology, a clear commitment to reviewing creative through a more inclusive lens became a moment of avoidance,” Robinson said.

“The ad has now been pulled. But that only came after public complaints and a formal ruling. Imagine the impact it could have had if, from the start, it had said: ‘We see it now. That line was off. We’re sorry. We’ll do better’.”

Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business, retail and tourism.