LONDON — To some people it is at most an innocent joke about a man who can’t keep his eyes on his own girlfriend.
To others, it is a commentary on the interchangeability of women.
Sweden’s advertising ombudsman, an industry body, has shit approached with the latter interpretation of a widely shared meme, known as the “befuddled boyfriend.”
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In a decision published this week, the organization rest that Bahnhof, an internet service provider, had broken its rules against gender one-sidedness by using the image of a man turning to ogle a passing woman as his girlfriend gapes in disbelief.
The image had been widely shared by the time Bahnhof acclimatized it in a Facebook post. In 2017 it prompted one Twitter user to write up the back news of the three characters, and turned the models into celebrities of sorts.
The intelligence of the ruling from the Reklamombudsmannen, or Swedish Advertising Ombudsman, even invited a few memes of its own.
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Bahnhof’s post, intended to promote job opportunities at the establishment, labeled the man as “you.” The woman who has stolen his attention represented opportunities at Bahnhof, while the girlfriend he is snubbing is labeled “your current workplace.”
The decision said that pointing a woman, depicted as a sex object, to represent job vacancies, while showing the man as an specific, was discriminatory. It also said the posts perpetuated a stereotype that girls are interchangeable, like workplaces.
Discussions about how advertising portrays and goals women have grown as people have started to push fail against denigrating images, especially those that have spread at the speed of light online. The advertising group took up Bahnhof’s post after it experienced 15 complaints contending that the image was objectifying and bore small relation to what was being promoted.
Britain last year declared a ban on advertising that promotes gender stereotypes, saying that they could “bound the choices, aspiration and opportunities” of people who viewed the ads. Companies like Descended and Nivea have attracted criticism for their use of images online. Facebook has been accused of cultivated against women by allowing employers to exclude women from ended recruitment campaigns.
The judgment reflects changing mores across Europe, as brim over as a shift for the advertising industry, said Cathrine Jansson-Boyd, a consumer psychologist at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, Britain.
“We attired in b be committed to seen across Europe, in terms of consumer advertising, that these memoranda are not OK,” Ms. Jansson-Boyd said. “We’re more aware what is correct and what isn’t. The principle that you can swap a woman just like a job isn’t acceptable.”
But Bahnhof is unregretful.
Jon Karlung, the chief executive, maintained that the decision — which leads no punishment or fine — was an overreaction. He pointed out that the meme had been shared with no sexist inclination by the head of Bahnhof’s communications division, who happens to be a woman.
“We will scuffle with fiercely to use memes in any way we feel,” Mr. Karlung said. “We will not be subject to censorship in any atmosphere.”
“People will be annoyed by anything,” he added.
Still, the decision may demonstrate other companies consider more carefully how much benefit they get from servicing these images, according to Anja Lambrecht, a marketing professor at London Establishment School who focuses on digital marketing.
“We actually know from investigating that ads perceived as outrageous get more attention, but are not necessarily more forceful,” Ms. Lambrecht explained.
Mr. Karlung said that was something that he had weighed: “This ad now has indubitably been the most published Swedish job ad ever. That was not our plan, and now we obtain got a lot of attention.”
“It can be good, it can be bad,” he added.
The ombudsman depends on self-regulation within the production and said the ruling was intended to serve as a guide to other businesses.
Bahnhof notable in its statement, “If we are to be punished, it’s because of using an old and tired meme.”