The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

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By John McCarthy, Opinion Editor

January 26, 2017 | 2 min read

A bold ad from Danish footwear company Bianco has attracted criticism for attempting to subvert the equal pay debate by claiming that women need more money to buy shoes and "ridiculously more expensive" underwear.

The minute-and-a-half slot claimed that women "are not even angry about" the pay disparity before showing angry female staff members cause widespread destruction over their inability to maintain glamourous lifestyles. The tongue-in-cheek ad has angered its share of social media users although the brand asserts that it was looking to create a discourse.

The 'Equal Pay Is Not Enough' video has garnered about 80,000 views on YouTube. At the time of publishing it has 20-times more dislikes than likes. One YouTube commenter pointed out an irony with the ad, saying: "I find it hilarious that the ad complains about overpriced women's products while trying to sell overpriced women's products. Can you really not see the irony?"

On Facebook, the ad generated almost 2m views, where it found a much more heated response to the campaign.

The top-rated comment on the video reads as follows: “A lot of women are angry about it, but funnily enough not because we want to buy more shoes. Isn't it great when capitalism attempts to cash in on feminism? What a load of bullshit.”

This is followed by: “I was hoping that the main theme in this video was the money issue with pads/tampons, but instead it's hair, clothes and shoes? Yes, our haircuts are more expensive, but pads/tampons are seen as a "luxury". We can't drop them, because we NEED them. We don't NEED expensive shoes and clothes. I just don't get it. I might have misunderstood the video, but yeah.”

The brand has some push back on Facebook, stating: “ If the campaign creates dialogue and encourage for debate - as it does now - the campaign has already done something for the better.”

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