Distracted boyfriend meme' is sexist, rules Swedish advertising watchdog

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Sweden's Advertising Ombudsman (RO) has criticized a Stockholm company for sexism after it used a popular meme alongside a recruitment advert.

The image, known by online communities as 'Distracted Boyfriend Meme', is based on a stock photo of a man turning away from his appalled girlfriend to look at an attractive woman. Swedish internet service provider Bahnhof used the image alongside a jobs advert; in their take on the meme, the boyfriend was turning away from "your current workplace" to stare at Bahnhof. Sweden's advertising watchdog RO has now ruled that the use of the meme was "gender-discriminatory", both due to presenting women as "interchangeable" and "sex objects" and presenting "a stereotypical picture of men seeing women as interchangeable".

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"It portrays women as interchangeable objects, and that only their appearance is interesting," wrote the ombudsman, which was unanimous in its decision. It added that there was no link between the services provided by Bahnhof and the objectified image of the women. "According to the committee, the objectification is reinforced by the fact that women are designated as workplace representatives while the man, as the recipient of the advertisement, is being produced as an individual," the judgment said.

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Sweden's Advertising Ombudsman has guidelines stating that advertisements should not depict women or men as "mere sex objects" or in other ways which are "degrading and clearly sexist". However, the body only has the ability to make judgments on adverts, not to impose sanctions. Because of this restriction, Stockholm's city council voted last year to remove any advertising billboards deemed sexist or degrading from public spaces in the capital.

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