Why a recent dishwashing ad for men is making netizens furious: ‘This is a joke right?’

Netizens cannot fathom why a simple chore has been turned into a gender-specific thing, especially when the purpose of any dishwashing liquid is the same — squeaky clean utensils — regardless of whether a man does it or a woman.

The face of the advertisement by Vim (Hindustan Unilever Ltd’s household cleaning supplies brand) is actor, model and fitness enthusiast Milind Soman, who shared the video on his Instagram account; it was flooded with reproachful comments.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Milind Usha Soman (@milindrunning)

In the ad, we see a man working out in the gym, talking about how he “helped” his mother do the dishes. Soman approaches him, sarcastically praising him for “bragging”, and then offers him Vim Black, along with the advice: “Vim Black for men, easy to clean, more to brag”.

“I honestly hope that this is a spoof video and not a real one. I really hope not,” one person wrote. Someone else commented, “Jokes apart, chores are not gender specific. Ghar sabka hai, ghar ke kam bhi sabke hain.” One Instagram user directly asked, “This is a joke right?”, while another noted, “But the product is for the dishes… how… what… wha…? It’s not… No, that’s not how this works.”

Another user rightly pointed out that there was no need to introduce a new product with a new packaging, when the dishwashing liquid does the exact same thing: “For men? Kyu? Yellow wale mein kya problem hai?” referring the standard Vim bottle.

Check out some of these other reactions on Twitter, too:

#Vim‘black’ is to encourage men to do household chores and ‘brag’ about it. Really? Why is doing dishes a brag when a man does it?
Isn’t it a basic life skill we all should know and do? Rather than romanticizing the whole chore that if a man does a bare minimum, it’s a lot.

— Anamikaaaa (@Lady_with_pen) December 12, 2022

I think the #VimBlack Ad is suppose to be a sarcastic campaign, and it looks like it has back fired on the brand.

— Riddhi Kapoor (@kapoor_riddhi) December 10, 2022

Black Vim was all I needed to start doing dishes. I don’t know about you, but i could never feel Vim being cut out for me. So glad they came out with this. Now waiting for Flash Broom and Mop range for men.

— Lakshya Choudhary (@Lakshya42999272) December 10, 2022

ViM liquid black – do you feel men are ashamed to use yellow or green dish washing liquid ? Seriously feel bad for the team who approved this and thought this would work pic.twitter.com/RF85vKZA0x

— Kevin (@iamkevins) December 10, 2022

Story continues below this ad

Later, Vim clarified that the ad was actually a joke: “We aren’t serious about the black pack, but we are super serious about men owning chores at home,” it posted on Instagram.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by MTV India (@mtvindia)

In another social media post, Vim explained that household chores are supposed to be taken up by men, too, and that they earn no bragging rights by doing the bare minimum. “Bartan dhona sabke liye ek jaisa, toh liquid bhi ek hoga, na (washing dishes is the same for everyone, so the liquid, too, will be the same). You don’t need a new bottle to enter the kitchen, just the realisation that these are your chores, too. As you take on new year resolutions, why not chalk in owning your chores and make sure you cut out those bragging skills?”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Vim India Official (@vimindia)

The colour black, perhaps, alluded to the fact that men’s products are often in darker colours — be it face wash, dishwashing liquid or other grooming products such as razors, creams and gels — whereas women-centric packaging is done in shades of pink, white, green, etc.

What do you think about the ad?

📣 For more lifestyle news, follow us on Instagram | Twitter | Facebook and don’t miss out on the latest updates!