Uber Eats forced to apologise over 'Wife Appreciation Day' blunder

Uber removed the message from their app after receiving backlash. Photo / Getty Images

Car sharing app Uber has been forced to apologise after being hit by sexism accusations following the release of a promotional message to customers of its Uber Eats food delivery service.

According to The Telegraph, the message sent to customers in Bangalore, India, was intended to coincide with Wife Appreciation Day, which falls annually on the third Sunday of September. It encouraged husbands to "let your wife take a day off from the kitchen".

Twitter users were quick to voice their concerns over the insinuation that a wife's place is in the home, and that Uber seemed to be reinforcing out-of-date gender roles.

Thank you @Uber for defining gender roles in India. Of course women are meant to slog it out in the kitchen & the men need to BUY us freedom https://t.co/EW57ZyXdnG

— Rashi (@rashi_kakkar) September 17, 2017

And that the husband should out of the kindness of his heart let her out of the kitchen? Wow. So progressive.

— makeupgurusuku (@bluekohlapuris) September 17, 2017

Uber later apologised for the "totally inappropriate" message and said it had been removed from the app.

While the message created a stir internationally, some Twitter users remained sanguine, with one writing: "It's Uber Bangalore, different culture".

It's Uber Bangalore, different culture

— AD (@outsiderNYC) September 17, 2017

This isn't the first time the vehicle-for-hire app has been lambasted for its attitude towards women. In June, its co-founder Travis Kalanick resigned from his post after a series of events including sexual harassment claims from a former Uber engineer and sexist comments made by one of the app's investors plunged the company's reputation further into a downward spiral. In spite of his exit, the scandals don't yet seem to have abated.