Morrisons cleared of 'outdated' gender stereotypes by ad watchdog

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that creative did not reinforce "outdated stereotypes of men and women", with the decision coming a month after Asda's Christmas ad was also cleared of sexism.

The Morrisons campaign, created by DLKW Lowe, begins with a voice-over stating, "And so it begins", followed by a number of surreal scenes, including the woman wrestling a dead turkey.

A total of 26 viewers complained the ad was offensive and sexist because it reinforced out-of-date stereotypes. This is far short of the 620 complaints the Asda ad provoked, although Asda was subject to a concerted social media campaign that provoked the interest of pressure group Fathers 4 Justice

Morrisons defended its campaign by claiming the idea behind it was conceived after "socially representative focus groups" provided a message that a lot of working mums still "bore the brunt" of Christmas.

The ASA decided not to ban the ad because it believed it did not imply it reflected every family's experience and was not likely to condone harmful or discriminatory behaviour.

This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk