Weeks after ‘Fair & Lovely’ was criticised for promoting stereotypes related to skin colour, another household brand, Scotch-Brite, has come under the scanner over a gender marker in its logo. The case came to light after one Karthik Srinivasan posted a series of pictures (on LinkedIn) where one can clearly see Scotch-Brite featuring the logo of a woman’s face with a bindi on their packaging. It didn’t take long for the post to g0 viral, with thousands of users calling out the brand for gender-stereotyping.
However, Scotch-Brite took cognisance of the matter and has now promised change. Here’s the logo that sparked debate:
The sexism is pretty obvious here. Of course they have a woman on the logo, who else do you think does the dishes in a household? *eye roll*
In response to the debate raging on social media, Atul Mathur, Head Of Marketing–Consumer Business at 3M India, has now come up with an acknowledgement that the company needs to do away with its age-old vector. 3M, headquartered in the United States, is the parent company of Scotch-Brite.
“At the very outset I wish to thank you for your insightful comment on the Scotch-Brite packaging. I head marketing in 3M India for our Consumer business. You have correctly surmised that this is a legacy vector, and that it is undoubtedly time to move on from regressive beliefs. At the same time, we also began to work internally on changing the brand vector. I am pleased to inform you that you will see the logo change a few months down the line,” he said.
3M, in a statement also clarified that the new logo of Scotch-Brite will not display the image of a woman. The company also stated that they recognise that household chores are equally shared by all family members, and that is precisely why they need to make the product packaging gender-neutral.
Well, that is certainly a step in the right direction, and companies acknowledging their mistakes and taking corrective action gives us a ray of hope.
Meanwhile, here’s a look at the original post by Kartik Srinivasan, followed by Atul Mathur’s response.
Here’s to hoping that more companies pay attention to their product packaging and do away with designs that are regressive, discriminating, and gender-biased.
Featured Image: LinkedIn
