Clothing giant Gap have sparked controversy over an allegedly sexist advertising campaign for their children‘s range.
The campaign, which was sent out in a promotional email, features a picture of a young boy wearing a t-shirt with Albert Einstein on the front, and bears the caption “little scholar… your future starts here”.
Next to this is a similar picture of a young girl which bears the caption “social butterfly… talk of the playground”.
Many parents expressed outrage at the campaign, branding it “disgusting sexism”.
The fashion retail giant subsequently fell victim to a significant backlash on its social media platforms.
One Twitter user expressed her issue with the campaign’s suggestion that young boys were more likely to be geniuses, while pointing out a spelling mistake on the t-shirt itself.
Dear @UKGap my daughter & son both love to have genius ideas-please don’t limit them. Ps you spelt Einstein wrong https://t.co/VyKY6Ju0Xo
— ruth walker-cotton (@walkercotton) July 31, 2016
Gap is not the first retailer to experience a public backlash against an advertising campaign that is seen to encourage gender stereotypes.
Hamleys was encouraged to change their pink and blue colour coded signs while Sainsbury‘s were persuaded to stop labelling their doctors and nurses costumes according to gender.
