AWARE slams mums and maids ad in this year's Alamak! Awards

Gender equality advocacy group AWARE is kicking off its popular annual AWARE Alamak! Awards for 2015.Every year, the AWARE Awards celebrates individuals and organisations that have promoted gender equality in Singapore. At the same time, the Alamak! Award is given out to the most "jaw-dropping instances of sexism", said the organisation.This is decided by an online poll.This year, the public can choose from among four options out of which, two are ads.Moms and MaidsThe first ad featured in these awards is Ogilvy & Mather's 'Mums and maids' advertisement which caused a fair amount of chatter both online and off. The campaigns calls for attention to the plight of foreign domestic workers or ‘maids’ that work for months or years on end with no rest days. The ad goes on further to show that domestic workers have closer ties to the children of the home they work for then working mothers do.https://youtu.be/jUxkOSkD8RcAccording to the AWARE, taking such a stance reinforces a sexist culture which questions the need for working moms. AWARE ads that the ad takes away child raising responsibilities from the father’s plate.“O&M was advised about this from the early stages of the project, so they had the opportunity to change their approach, but they refused,” said the organisation in a press statement.Read also: O&M's provocative 'Mums and Maids' spot sparks debate and Moms and maids creator responds to public debateSlimFit SG50Another ad that also criticized was SlimFit's SG50 ‘bust enhancement’ ad. The ad was part of its #SG50 celebration and gave interested consumers a chance to experience their services at the cost of 50 cents. The ad also draws back the promotion to the olden days of Singapore where Samsui Women earned only 50 cents in a day.See for yourself:Other shortlists for the Alamak! Awards include a local kopitiam stall called the Jack Ripper burger stall which labelled all the burgers in its menu as names of female murder victims. Publishers and politicians who made sexist attacks or headlines during the GE2015 also made it into the headlines.Voting will carry on until 22 October 2015. The “winner” will be named on 7 November 2015.Last year’s Alamak! winner was Dr Lim Tit Meng, chief executive of the Singapore Science Centre, who believed that women were not able to hold high positions because of their “complex nature” which “challenges them with communication barriers”. Also making it to the shortlist last year were brands such as Scoot and Goldheart. Speaking to Marketing in an earlier interview, Jolene Tan, programmes and communications senior manager at AWARE Singapore said that advertisers should be responsible in using their power to shape public perceptions.Tan also highlighted that many ads in Singapore explicitly rely on damaging and insulting stereotypes about women. She added that it was common knowledge that most images of women used in advertising were heavily airbrushed or edited to conform to a “rigid view” of what female bodies and faces should look like.