Swiffer Turns Rosie the Riveter Into a Maid, Surprised at Backlash
A new Swiffer advertisement depicting WWII icon Rosie the Riveter as a house-cleaning homemaker has, shockingly, rubbed people the wrong way.
Heather Beschizza reportedly came across the ad on a Sunday newspaper insert and tweeted it out. BoingBoing picked up that tweet and a minor internet firestorm grew from there.
Naturally, Swiffer promptly issued an apology in a statement to the HuffingtonPost, promising to put the kibosh on the ads immediately and forever:
We are aware of the concerns regarding an image in a Swiffer ad. Our core purpose is to make cleaning easier for all consumers, regardless of who is behind the handle of our products. It was not our intention to offend any group with the image, and we are working to make changes to where it is used as quickly as possible.
ThinkProgress says the Swiffer ad is in particularly poor taste considering that new data shows more women than ever before are now the sole or co-breadwinners in American households.