SEO-Ward
Jim Seward – SEO Myth Buster
“Here comes the girls” – Here comes blatant sexism – Boycott Boots campaign
Published December 15, 2011 | 
Now I don’t usually go off on one, but this has been winding me up for a long time now.
For the last 12-18 months, high street store Boots has been targeting women in it’s advertising campaigned using the slogan “Here come the girls”, fine, whatever. What I object to is just how much their advertising relies on portraying men as dumb, stupid, “rubbish”, lazy and hypochondriacs. Their advertising is blatant sexism towards men.
There’s no doubt that a similar advertising campaign with the gender roles reversed would have been banned by now for being sexist and perpetuating gender stereotypes, so I have to wonder why such advertising is seen as acceptable when men are the target of the sexism?
Their latest sexist abomination where a man’s daughters save Christmas from “rubbish Dad” has at this point been the straw that broke the camels back, and to be perfectly honest, any daughter that buys her mother “Fantasy” by Britney, really does not have the right to call anybody “rubbish”
What Boots have to remember is that although their customer base is predominantly women, a large proportion will be the men that they are insulting on a daily basis. When I buy fragrance for my other half this Christmas, I will not be doing it at Boots but at a store that doesn’t insult me and my gender. They should perhaps consider that a large proportion of “gifts” that are bought at Boots this Christmas, will be being bought by men.
I have set up a Boycott Boots campaign over on Facebook – here’s the link: Boycott Boots until they change their sexist advertising campaigns and look forward to watching the group grow as more and more men (and hopefully women) say no to blatant sexism from a major high street retailer.
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Totally agree with you, Jim, the Boots cold remedies ‘I’m fine…’ ad is batantly sexist and insulting towards men. The ASA has received about 90 complaints the ad and, so far, has refused to act. This kind of attitude will only reinforce the unfortunate male tendency to avoid seeking medical help when ill, sometimes with tragic consequences, (after all who wants to labelled a ‘spineless cry-baby’?) I intend to complain to Boots and the ASA about the advert.
I so agree. I have written to Boots about this – it is grossly insulting. I received a patronising reply. Could not agree more that if women really think that Christmas is all about receiving cheap perfume branded by Britney – model parent – Spears then they really are missing the whole point of a family Christmas. Christmas should be a happy family time for all – male and female. I hate the way that Boots and other advertisers portray it as the exclusive domain of women and mums as if fathers are just irrelevant. As for the portrayal of men as wimpy hypochondriacs – while women bravely soldier on. The most irritating aspect of this is that it just simply is not true. Women are 50% more likely to be absent from work than men. Seek nearly twice as many GP appointments than men and are far more likely to be disciplined at – or dismissed from – their jobs for persistent absence. Why do we stand for this casual ignorant dismissal of men as irrelevant by shops like this. Boycott Boots – remove your custom shop somewhere where you are valued and respected as a customer. If you are a man that is certainly not Boots!!!! Its time men voted with their feet and their wallets and show these sexist retailers what it means to lose 50% of their customer base – after all men have more disposable income than women – lets use it to teach these bigots a lesson!!! Does anyone have any ideas how this boycott could actually catch on – would make a great message to get out there!
Thanks for your responses Guys, I think this is starting to get legs as I’ve noticed more and more sites talking about these sexist adverts negatively.
Some great stats on this page
http://brightonmanplan.wordpress.com/2010/12/29/is-boots-ad-sexist/ about the reality of so called “man flu”
You are, of course, absolutely right and I have today joined your FB group. I belong to another FB group called Representing Men, that have highlighted your blog and campaign.
Boots the Chemist is blatantly using sexism against men to bolster the women going to shop in there – because its sales are falling as supermarkets, in particular Tesco, are expanding their range and introducing pharmacies into their stores. People won’t queue at Boots if they can get the same produce cheaper & easier at the supermarket with the weekly shop.
Plus, Boots aren’t exactly cheap. Most of their products are cheaper elsewhere. Plus, because of their “Advantage Card” scheme, it seems to take ages for people to get served at the checkouts! Not that I will be bothering now, since I will be boycotting them until they change their advertising.
Take a look at this link: http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/sectors/retail/boots-looks-to-customer-experience-to-help-maintain-share/3031717.article
“The supermarket talks directly to 30,000 customers each week asking them to rate their experience on a five point scale.” And how many of those are men, I wonder…?
And even this (sexist) journalist doesn’t actually like Boots all that much: http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/blogs/lucy-handley/great-christmas-ad-from-boots-so-why-do-i-feel-alienated?/3031769.article