Humorous VW ad banned for stereotyping

The ad depicts a man in a mall while women are in a "feeding frenzy" amid a shoe sale. A complainant found the ad "extremely sexist".

The ad depicts a man in a mall who is accompanying his shoe-shopping female partner. The voiceover reports from the scene:

“It’s dusk and you’re in unfamiliar territory, surrounded by predators hunting for fresh prey. And they found it. 50% off all shoes. They attack, lunging mercilessly. As you guard the 12 shopping bags, seated on a bench alongside the other men, you watch the feeding frenzy take place.

This is Shoe Sale Country and you don't belong here, man. This is not your habitat, so go where you belong in the V6 Amarok... Visit your Volkswagen dealership for great Amarok V6 offers today, man.

Professor Susan Goldstein from the School of Public Health at Wits lodged a complaint with the ARB, calling the ad “extremely sexist”.

She submitted that the commercial is gender stereotyping and, in an environment of toxic masculinity and among the highest rates of gender-based violence in the world, this is harmful.

For its part, Volkswagen said the ad was intended as a parody, which does not promote or depict any violence against one gender. Volkswagen said it’s a “harmless exaggeration of a real-life scenario intended to amuse listeners”.

They submitted that the reference to “Shoe Sale Country” makes it clear that this is a fictional world and no reasonable person would assume that Volkswagen's use of the paradoxical scenario is intended to create a negative gender stereotype. The ad also does not promote or depict any violence against one gender. Also - only one person complained.

SOURCE