A Volkswagen TV commercial set to air in the U.K. has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) there for harmfully portraying gender stereotypes.The ad, for VWs new eGolf, depicts men engaged in a variety of activities such as climbing mountains, traveling through space and competing in para-athletic sports, in contrast with images of women making a sandwich, doing laundry and sitting drinking coffee.When we learn to adapt, we can achieve anything, reads the tagline on the ad, which was intended to show how society can adapt to the more widespread use of electric cars such as the eGolf. However, the advertising authority says it received three complaints about its portrayal of harmful gender stereotypes.The ASA ruled the implication behind the ad is that raising a child and doing household chores are exclusively roles for women, and that adventurous activities are better left to men, reports the BBC.Volkswagen defended the ad saying it made no suggestion that childcare was solely associated with women, says the British news outlet, and the fact that the woman in its advertisement was calm and reading could be seen as going against the stereotypical depiction of harassed or anxious parents in advertising. A second ad, for Philadelphia cream cheese, banned by the ASA at the same time portrays two new dads at a restaurant with their children; the fathers become distracted by some bagels and toast, and leave their kids on the conveyor belt. That ad received 128 complaints for its portrayal of gender stereotypes, which apparently painted men as being unable to care for their children.Both of the ads broke a brand new U.K. ASA rule that states advertising cannot depict men and women engaged in gender-stereotypical
Origin: Volkswagen ad banned in U.K. for portraying gender stereotypes