Pen company Bic’s South African branch posted — and quickly deleted — a social media fail from its Facebook (FB) page. On the country’s National Women’s Day, the account posted an ad to celebrate the occasion which totally backfired.
“Look like a girl. Act like a lady. Think like a man. Work like a boss,” the post proclaimed alongside the image of a woman in a business suit. People responded that the post was sexist, and not at all empowering to women as intended.
Although the post has since been taken down, one Twitter user re-posted it:
"Look like a girl" "Think like a man" #Bic fails spectacularly with this #happywomensday ad. pic.twitter.com/G9avXp4MoV
— Rebecca LeBard (@rlebard) August 12, 2015
Bic apologized for the ad’s language: “Let’s start out by saying we’re incredibly sorry for offending everybody – that was never our intention, but we completely understand where we’ve gone wrong,” read a post on Facebook. “This post should never have gone out.”