A TikTok post by the dating site Match.com has been banned for perpetuating negative gender stereotypes..
The post, seen on June 30, showed clips of a couple in their home, with one scene showing the man sitting in a chair with his feet up, on the phone while a female voiceover says: “Things that make him realise I’m a keeper. I will make him his protein shake after the gym.”
The voiceover then says, “I always make sure he has a fresh towel and socks after his shower” and “I put the football on for him every evening”.
The ad ended with the woman saying: “Find your keeper via Match. Go download the Match app today.”
A viewer who believed the ad was sexist challenged whether it contained gender stereotypes that were harmful and offensive.
The ad formed part of a three-video storyline, which also showed gestures carried out by the man for the woman, Match.com said.
The site confirmed it had removed the ad from TikTok and acknowledged it would have been more appropriate to include gestures carried out by both individuals in the same ad to avoid any perceived inequality.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) noted all the actions performed by the woman were domestic chores, “Because the ad relied on the stereotype of a woman carrying out domestic chores in order to please her male partner, we considered that viewers would interpret the ad as reinforcing a negative gender stereotype,” the regulator said.
“We further noted that the actions of the woman were one-sided and were not reciprocated by the man in the ad.”
Referring to the voiceover during which the woman said she “always” made sure the man had a fresh towel and socks and put the football on for him “every evening”, the ASA added: “We considered that the longevity of the gestures implied that they were not one-off acts of kindness but were indistinguishable from chores.
“Given that, and in the absence of any reciprocal gestures by the man, we considered that the woman was shown to prioritise her partner’s needs over her own.”
The ASA also took the ad title “Things that make him realise I’m a keeper” into consideration, saying: “We considered that the title, when viewed in the context of the ad, reinforced the idea that women should be subservient to men in order to maintain a successful relationship.
“For those reasons, we concluded that the ad perpetuated negative gender stereotypes and was likely to cause harm and widespread offence.”
The ASA ruled that the ad must not appear again, adding: “We told Match.com to ensure that they did not portray sexist or negative gender stereotypes in future marketing communications.”