‘If you don’t believe it, smell it’: P&G apologises for advertisement that claims women are smellier than men
- The ad published on WeChat contained numerous false claims about the differences between men and women hygiene
- Chinese consumers called the advertisement sexist, with many threatening to boycott the American corporate giant
American consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble (P&G) apologised on Thursday for a WeChat infographic with the headline: “Women’s feet smell five times worse than men’s. If you don’t believe it, smell it.”
“We sincerely apologise for the advertisement’s inappropriate content, which disrespected women,” P&G said. “P&G always advocates equal, tolerant and respectful values. We have deleted this advertisement and started overhauling this WeChat account.”
The advertisement made dubious claims that women have five times more sweat glands in their feet than men. However, numerous studies have investigated whether men and women sweat differently with no definitive answer – especially considering physically fit people of both sexes generally sweat less than those in less tip-top shape.
One person wrote on Weibo: “The advertisement is a form of mind control: humiliating women while still making money from them. By the way, do these allegations have any scientific data to support them?”