UberEats says ‘sorry’ after being trashed on Twitter for SEXIST ‘Wife Appreciation Day’ ad

Many in Bangalore woke up to a sexist message from UberEats to celebrate 'Wife Appreciation Day' on the third Sunday of September. Wasting no time, a lot of Twitter users took to the micro-blogging site to slam the message.

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Twitterati trashed UberEats for their sexist ad on ‘Wife Appreciation Day’. (Source: Pixabay/Twitter)

Cab providing company Uber sparked a lot of major controversies this year, and the struggle seems far from over. Recently, UberEats shared a new campaign to celebrate ‘Wife Appreciation Day’ on the third Sunday of September. It sent out a promotional message to its customers, asking husbands to help let their wives take “a day off from the kitchen.”

Here’s what their ad read: “Dear Husbands, a gentle reminder — Today is Wife Appreciation Day! Order on UberEATS and let your wife take a day off from the kitchen. Use promo code ‘nocookingday’ and get Rs 100 off on a minimum billing of Rs 400. Valid only on 17 September.”

Many in Bangalore woke up to see the text message, and couldn’t keep calm. Wasting no time, a lot of Twitter users took to the micro-blogging site to express their disdain. “Sorry @uber but why do you think that only the “wife” needs to be at the kitchen!” one user wrote. Check out some of the tweets here.

Ewwwwww! pic.twitter.com/DRSiRY5yai

— Asawari Ghatage (@11ty1) September 17, 2017

Sorry @uber but why do you think that only the “wife” needs to be at the kitchen! 😐 pic.twitter.com/HzjlBsdT34

— Hemanth.HM (@GNUmanth) September 16, 2017

@saggod @Uber it doesn’t say “need” anywhere at all. It acts on the fact that most women are being relegated to the kitchen.

— Sanket Chaudhury (@man_puns) September 17, 2017

And that the husband should out of the kindness of his heart let her out of the kitchen? Wow. So progressive.

— Suki B (@bluekohlapuris) September 17, 2017

Use promocode ‘cookingiswomenswork’ and we’ll reaffirm gender stereotypes!

— NoTrumpsClub (@NoFordsClub) September 17, 2017

But this WAS unprogressive. There has to be a better way to market your food delivery service which doesn’t rely on centuries of oppression.

— Suki B (@bluekohlapuris) September 17, 2017

As a man who’s been cooking & doing kitchen duty for over 45 years, I find this sensibility so offensive.

— Ian King (@ianking51) September 17, 2017

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In no time, the scorn over their ad went viral, and the company’s PR team apologised on social media. “This was totally inappropriate. We’ve removed it and we apologize,” a tweet sent out from the handle @Uber_Comms read.

This was totally inappropriate. We’ve removed it and we apologize.

— Uber Comms (@Uber_Comms) September 17, 2017

What’s more, Uber’s chief brand officer also saw the blunder and was extremely apologetic for it. “Oh hell no. This is completely unacceptable. Will take care of this,” he wrote.