Pen manufacturer Bic has apologized for a post on its South African Facebook page on Women’s Day that has been heavily criticized for being sexist.
Reuters
Bic’s post featured a picture of a smiling woman in a suit next to the caption: “Look like a girl, act like a lady, think like a man, work like a boss” and included the tag #HappyWomensDay. It was deleted after a welter of criticism.
Feminist activist Caroline Criado-Perez, who campaigned for a female face to be put on British banknotes, was among those who expressed their indignation on Twitter.
“What fresh hell is this?” she said, and then: “seriously? ‘think like a man’ … *stabs eyes out with bic pen*”.
Bic initially defended its position by saying the slogan was borrowed from a women’s business blog but later deleted the post and apologized.
“We’re incredibly sorry for offending everybody — that was never our intention, but we completely understand where we’ve gone wrong,” Bic posted on its South Africa Facebook page.
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The apology also elicited criticism online.
This is not the first time Bic has been accused of sexism. The launch of a pink pen “for her” in 2012 was criticized for adhering to out-of-date stereotypes.