I find sexism as funny as the next man, but when it’s used to portray a product as being “so simple a man could use it” I’m curious as to whether this is sensationalist marketing for the sake of it. I have tried to figure this out by writing to the makers of Oven Pride, and they obliged me with a response.

The current obsession with providing good customer service is such that sometimes even the most obviously hostile email can get a response from the company concerned. In the case of Oven Pride however, they seem to have missed my question which, admittedly, was coated in more than a little sarcasm.

Anyway, onto the response…

Thank you for your email.

We are sorry to hear that you did not like our TV ad.

I never said I didn’t like it, I just didn’t understand what you were trying to achieve. You make an ad that appeals to women and annoys men in such a memorable fashion that men will likely refuse to buy your product and when “offered” the chance to use it will, if they remember the advert, politely decline and pop to the supermarket to pick up some Mister Muscle since it loves the jobs you hate.

Our advert has been approved by the BACC (Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre) and investigated by the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) and was found not to contravene any advertising rules.

I get the impression that mine is not the first voice of discontent you’ve had then? I also get the sense that this is not the first response mail you’ve had to send out given that we’re on line 3 and you’ve wheeled out the big guns of the Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre and the Advertising Standards Authority who, I believe, are only involved in advertising when someone complains.

At any rate I’m really glad that your ad is all legit and within the rules, because it has enriched my life in countless ways.

The advert has been purposely created in a cheesy, pantomime, slap stick manner to depict in jest a typical cohabiting couple.

This typical cohabiting couple is a woman sucking a lemon and a chimp? Fairly typical I suppose but I’m not really seeing the pantomime or slap stick humour at play, but that may be because of the cheese involved in the production qualities. I have to say it’s a fiver well spent.

There is no offense intended by this advert.

I believe my friends on the internet put this kind of thing rather well…

Aiming for inoffensive

Kind regards

Oven Pride

I’m sorry chaps, but that’s not quite going to cut it. Kind regards or otherwise I’d be keen to get a better response than this, at least in terms of explaining their thinking, but I doubt very much there’s more to be had. However [INTERACTIVE READERSHIP MOMENT] I will do the bidding of any commenters out there. If you want me to hound these folks some more please press your RED button (or comment to that extent).

Related posts:

1. Sam vs Oven Pride : round 1

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