It has been a very “sexist” year for Uber, it seems. After the hoopla involving the CEO and the sexist board meeting joke, the company is back in news yet again. No points for guessing that it is over sexism. Though this time, it is UberEats that has channeled the gender bias in form of a Wife Appreciation Day campaign.
People of Bangalore woke up to a Sunday where UberEats was trying to promote a “No Cooking Day”. But they ended up promoting a gender stereotype, instead.
Ewwwwww! pic.twitter.com/DRSiRY5yai
— asawari (@11ty1) September 17, 2017
Realising their mistake, a couple of hours later Uber’s PR team apologised.
This was totally inappropriate. We've removed it and we apologize.
— Uber Comms (@Uber_Comms) September 17, 2017
Uber’s Chief Brand Officer saw it and apologised too.
Oh hell no. This is completely unacceptable. Will take care of this.
— Bozoma Saint John (@badassboz) September 17, 2017
But by then, people had started slamming the advert.
1. They pointed at the stereotypes Uber implied.
Use promocode 'cookingiswomenswork' and we'll reaffirm gender stereotypes!
— 😷🍊🤡😷NoTrumpsClub😷🍊🤡😷 (@NoFordsClub) September 17, 2017
2. Agreed. Only wife? Husbands don’t cook?
Sorry @uber but why do you think that only the "wife" needs to be at the kitchen! 😐 pic.twitter.com/HzjlBsdT34
— Hemanth.HM (@GNUmanth) September 16, 2017
3. Assumption is fatal.
@saggod @Uber it doesn't say "need" anywhere at all. It acts on the fact that most women are being relegated to the kitchen.
— Sanket Chaudhury (@HealedAchilles) September 17, 2017
4. There has to be.
But this WAS unprogressive. There has to be a better way to market your food delivery service which doesn't rely on centuries of oppression.
— makeupgurusuku (@bluekohlapuris) September 17, 2017
5. This tweet too.
As a man who's been cooking & doing kitchen duty for over 45 years, I find this sensibility so offensive.
— Ian King 🏳️🌈 (@ianking51) September 17, 2017
When will Uber get rid of the sexist gene? We hope the sooner the better.