Many female readers of Fairfax's Good Weekend magazine spotted the ad in Saturday's Sydney Morning Herald newspaper on the weekend and slammed its suggestion that women only read light, frivolous material about fashion.
"Yes, newsflash for @SofitelBrisbane — some women are in fact more interested in whether stocks and shares are going up and down than whether hemlines are," one woman wrote on Twitter.
"Ah yes, those hotel mornings when you wake up, put your hair in a nice chignon and read a coffee-table book about Chanel," joked one woman. Replied another: "Jesus, is that a Chanel coffee table book? This is … so disheartening."
"No no, don't be silly, you are a woman, you only read fashion books and cookbooks," another said.
One woman commented, "I'm surprised she's not in skimpy underwear while he's holding a handful of spanners", while another said, "Funnily enough I actually prefer reading @FinancialReview in the morning."
A spokesman for the Sofitel Brisbane apologised for the ad and said it has now been pulled from any future publications.
"There was no intention of portraying a stereotype but we recognise it and apologise for any offence that it has caused," the spokesman said.
"The creative has since been pulled from any future communications activity."
