The ad for The Warehouse, and the image and line that have forced its removal.
A TV ad featuring a child’s schoolbag perpetuates a myth that “girls aren’t good at maths”, says advertising watchdog. Do you agree?
The Advertising Standards Authority has ordered the removal of a TV ad for The Warehouse, which features a child’s light-purple school backpack set against a pink background and the tagline: “Can’t do long division”.
The order follows two formal complaints that the ad perpetuated a myth that “girls aren’t good at maths”.
“The ad is about what your bag says about you,” one complainant told the authority.
“It cuts to an obviously girly school bag and says ‘can’t do long division’ with a girl’s giggle. I think this is reinforcing the idea that girls are bad at maths and it’s okay to perpetuate this myth. As a teacher, I find this annoying and offensive to girls.”
A second complainant said: “My objection is the alignment with a ‘girl’ themed ... unicorn bag with the tagline ‘cannot do long division’ during a line-up of alternative bags. I object to girls (or anyone) being aligned with an inability to do maths.”
A majority of the authority’s complaints board upheld the complaints about the ad, which was broadcast in May. They said it was likely to cause “serious offence” because the ad relied upon, and reinforced, the stereotype that girls weren’t good at maths.
As a result, the ad was to be removed, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said.
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 ad opens with the line ‘What does your bag say about you?’ and features a range of different satchels, with different statements, such as “uses natural deodorant”; “listens to vinyl – exclusively”; and “car is full of sand”.
“The example which prompted the complaints was an image of a light purple backpack covered in unicorns, stars and hearts,” says the authority.
“Attached to the backpack is a pink ribbon and some light-coloured beads. There is also a pink water bottle in an outside pocket on the backpack. The backpack is set against a bright pink background. Above the backpack is the text ‘can’t do long division’. This phrase is also part of the voiceover for this backpack. It is immediately followed by a girl’s giggle.”
Ad agency TWBA still had the advertisement posted on its Instagram page on Tuesday morning but removed it after the authority’s decision was published by the Herald.
A LinkedIn post by The Warehouse marketing general manager Jo Mitchell, promoting the red bag initiative and TV ad, has also been removed.
The Warehouse defended the ad to the authority, saying long division was not generally learned until around Year 5, and the backpack itself was the type that a very young child – “likely age group 3-5 years” – might own.
The Warehouse told the authority that the current campaign featuring the TV ad had finished, but there had been plans to use it at a later date.
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.
It would look to make amendments “to this particular section prior to re-using it”, The Warehouse said in its submission, and before the authority made its ruling that it was to be removed and not to be used again in its current form.
The authority considered the ad under the social responsibility principle, and the decency and offensiveness rule of the advertising standards code.
It also considered a precedent decision from 2014 in which a complaint about an ad for Libra Invisible sanitary pads was upheld. That ad stated, in part: “Absorbs way more than you ever did in maths class ... ”
The complaints board agreed that the likely consumer takeout of the Warehouse advertisement was that if you bought a red bag, you were making a contribution to charity.
“The complaints board also discussed the likely consumer takeout of the joke that the owner of the unicorn backpack ‘can’t do long division’. A majority of the board said the likely takeout of this joke was a reference to the stereotype that ‘girls can’t do maths’ rather than a specific takeout relating to whether the child was old enough to do long division.
“This is because the imagery used to promote the unicorn backpack used colours and imagery traditionally associated with girls. The girl’s giggle also reinforced this idea.
“The majority said there was nothing in the advertisement for scale to suggest the bag was a young girl’s bag.
“A minority disagreed. The minority said the likely owner of the unicorn backpack was a young girl, who was not old enough to do long division.”
A majority of the complaints board said the advertisement was likely to cause serious offence.
“This is because, in the opinion of the majority, the humour in the advertisement relies on and reinforces the stereotype that girls aren’t good at maths.”
Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.
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