Upower alters safety footwear ad after sexism backlash

Upower tweaks its safety footwear ad after the backlash

A white rabbit. That is what anyone who watches Upower's ad currently airing in Spain will see. Viewers who had been coming across the same commercial during AMC Break ad breaks for weeks have noticed that the opening image has changed: the rest of the ad, the body, the shots and the message, remains the same. The version that was airing until recently on Spanish television is no longer available, and the one now circulating is the Italian version. The detail is not trivial in an industry, safety footwear, whose fruta rides on twenty-second spots.

What changed in the Upower ad

The change is limited to the first image of the spot. The old and new ads are identical except for that opening shot, according to the comparison that has been made public. The Spanish version that was airing until recently is no longer in circulation, and the Italian version has been put in its place. There is no statement from the brand, no press release, no official explanation. Just a changed frame.

The question hanging in the air is which body issued the warning. Some point to the Ministry, though no one confirms it. Autocontrol, Spain's advertising self-regulation body that oversees radio, television and press, is mentioned in the complaints that have spread on social media. That is as far as what can be verified goes.

The criticism that forced the change

The ad had drawn a wave of reproach for sens and the sensual of women. The messages circulating denounced the link between a boy watching an artist in a miniskirt and the sale of work sneakers, and called for intervention from the Defensor del Pueblo (Spain's parliamentary ombudsman) and Autocontrol. The underlying accusation: lack of a code of conduct and poor values education in childhood.

Dated is the adjective that comes up most. And the complaint does not distinguish between the content of the ad and its airing during children's viewing hours, which is where the focus falls.

The precedent nobody mentions

The collective memory of Spanish viewers holds another campaign from the same brand, with several technicians arriving at a female customer's home. That spot is remembered more fondly than the current one. The contrast helps measure how much the yardstick has shifted: what once passed as trade banter is now put under scrutiny.

Changing a frame is the cheapest response to a fruta crisis. No withdrawal, no apology, no new campaign. Just a white rabbit where there used to be something else.

With a twenty-second spot and one different shot, Upower has dodged the controversy without saying a word. The question is whether the rest of the ad can withstand the same scrutiny as the opening image.