Selleys’ flirty housewife ad okayed by watchdog
An ad for DIY brand Selleys warning men not to leave their wife alone with a tradie has been cleared by the ad watchdog of sexism.
After showing the housewife flirting with the handyman, the BWM ad for Selleys Speed Seal warns: “Do it yourself before someone does it for you.”
Complaints to the Ad Standards Board included: “It normalises sexual unfaithfulness within marriage,” and “The advertisement offended me and my 23 year old daughter several times tonight whilst watching channel nine. It is extremely sexist to women and had threatening undertones”.
One tradesman complained: “”As an honest tradesman I find this extremely offensive and firmly believe that the advertisement casts an unwarranted cloud of dishonesty over tradesman in general.”
Selleys responded to the ASB saying: “The woman may at best be said to be engaging in nervous flirtatious behaviour. While there is a suggestion that she may be enjoying the man’s company in the house, she does not make any overtly sexual approaches or references, and does not at any time touch the man. Also, the man does not make any advances towards the woman, or engage in any physical contact.”
Achnowledging that the Selleys ad did play to stereotypes, the ASB ruled: “The Board considered the depiction of the male tradesman and the female at home to be a stereotype. However the Board considered that the advertisement was not negative in the portrayal of the handsome tradesman and housewife, but stereotypical, and would be considered humorous to most members of the community.
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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Why do advertisers accused of dodgy advertising go to such lengths to deny what is blatently obvious and is the insight around which the ad is based. The point of the ad is make husbands want to buy the product so their mrs doesn’t flirt with or shag the tradie.
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BWM playing to outmoded sexual stereotypes? I don’t believe that for a second.
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Seriously, who complains about this stuff? When did Australia turn into whineyville? It’s an ad, it’s not meant to be taken seriously, and no, the monkey in the coco-pops commercial is not a real monkey he is animated, so please no one ring the advertising board and complain of animal cruelty.
Maybe the woman in this ad is flirting with the tradesman because her husband is an alcoholic womaniser? We dont know that, we dont have that background to the story. Do you know why? BECAUSE IT’S JUST AN AD!
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The people who are complaining about this need to lighten up. Yes, it’s stereotypical and a bit dumb, but it’s a thirty second ad for a glue product, you can hardly expect it to attain Shakespearian levels of depth. It’s harmless.
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Woman in control? Nothing wrong with that. We all know she is more than capable of putting the sealer in her shower herself but I am giving her the benefit of the doubt that she was too busy juggling her online share portfolio and the strategic management of hers, her children’s and her husbands life. One thing I know for sure…she’s not the first woman to fantasise about her tradie… Thanks for the laugh.
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or the first man to fantasise about a tradie…
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