Giordano faces backlash over ‘sexist’ clothing line

Hong Kong fashion brand Giordano is scrambling to remove an advertising campaign slammed as “sexist” on social media.

Promoting the “Team Family Series”, the advert shows a family posing together with the man wearing a t-shirt emblazoned “Work” while the wife’s shirt proclaims “Cook”. When posted on social media last week, it outraged dozens of users, some of whom threatened to boycott the store.

One user wrote that it was an “absolute disgrace” and unforgivable for a modern brand to stereotype men and women.

Giordano has responded with a statement on social media saying the advertising materials would be removed “where physically possible”.

“The spirit of the campaign is to celebrate the power of the family, with the corresponding merchandise using words to depict different, random aspects of life,” says the statement.

“Stereotyping and sexism, or any kind of prejudice, however unintentional or passive, has no place at Giordano or in society.”

Removing the ads is unusual for Hong Kong, which does not have any laws against sexist or gender-specific advertising.

Lisa Moore, senior research and advocacy manager at Hong Kong-based non-profit The Women’s Foundation, says the city is overloaded with examples of such advertising. “Whether on billboards, buses, in print or on television, gender stereotyping in advertising is still quite prevalent in Hong Kong,” she says. “From financial loan commercials to ads for household products, women are often depicted in domestic roles.”