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Flipkart apologizes for Women’s Day message promoting kitchen appliances

March 9, 2022
Bharat Times

E-commerce company Flipkart has landed in controversy over its Women’s Day message.

Flipkart has apologized for a marketing misfire that saw the e-commerce platform promoting kitchen appliances on Women’s Day. On International Women’s Day 2022, which was celebrated yesterday, Flipkart sent out a message that many social media users found tone-deaf and sexist. “Dear Customer, This Women’s Day, Let’s Celebrate You. Get Kitchen Appliances Starting At Rs.299 [sic]”Read the message. The message reinforced negative stereotypes about women living in the kitchen, several social media users felt.

Flipkart apparently didn’t see a problem promoting kitchen appliances on Women’s Day, but Twitter users certainly did and called out the company for it.

A Twitter user shared a screenshot of the message and wrote: “Can you see the problem here?” His tweet blew up with nearly 5,000 ‘likes’ and hundreds of comments.

The message attracted social media outrage as many pointed out that Flipkart’s marketing strategy was aggressive in comparing women to cooking and kitchens.

Several Twitter users also criticized Flipkart for maintaining gender roles.

As the backlash around the Women’s Day message escalated, Flipkart tweeted an apology. “We made a mistake and we’re sorry,” the e-commerce company wrote on Twitter. It said, “We did not intend to hurt anyone’s sentiments and apologize for the Women’s Day message.”

Meanwhile, Flipkart was one of the many companies that missed the mark with its Women’s Day message. Twitter users also shared examples of many others who perpetuated negative gender stereotypes.

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