Joy is a chic British clothing brand that hawks women's and men's clothes, as well as adorable accessories and festive gifts. But it's not a buzzy new product that has the company in the news today. You see, Joy is under fire for its recent email blast, reports Yahoo, that went out to subscribers earlier this week. It was intended as a promotion for holiday dresses and festive threads, but took a bizarre turn when it came to the advertising copy.
The email reads: "Show your boyfriend’s mum you’re the girl to take care of her little prince in beautiful dresses that scream marriage material. Knee length skirts exude class while respectable necklines mean father-in-law won’t have a heart attack when you lean across the table for a second helping of roast potatoes.”
Yes, this is real life.
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A Facebook user posted the photo above with the caption: "I feel like they're way off the mark on this one. If I wanted something to look after, I'd get a puppy not a boyfriend."
There are a few problems here: the idea that women should dress (conservatively) to impress others, the use of the phrase "marriage material," and the insinuation that less "respectable" clothing leads women to be viewed as sex objects only. (Also, that father-in-law thing? Gross). To be fair, it did seem like the brand was joking, but the joke fell flat to most people. Joy's Facebook page quickly flooded with comments.
"Did I miss the move back to the 50s...." one comment read. Another person wrote her own terrifying—though funny in this context—"joke:" "How was your Christmas? My boyfriend's mother screamed at me that I wasn't marriage material for her prince because my hemline was too high and his father looked at my boobs when I went to get more spuds. Really should've bought that blue dress." Someone else noted that this ad is going viral: "I've seen other people complain about this email on their Facebook page. They've stepped into a bloody time machine!"
We reached out for comment from Joy and didn't hear back, but the brand did recently post an apology on Facebook. "Sorry! What happens when you take a customer experience, add in some satire and send a mass email," the post reads. They said the idea came from a colleague's crazy family experience and was, in fact, a joke and much more sarcastic than it read to customers.
"We acknowledge this error in judgement, and, as such, we would like to [apologize] to anyone who felt offended," the message continued. "We’re also aware there are many truly amazing parents who make you [realize] none of these things even matter (which they don’t, and shouldn’t, especially not in the 21st century, and especially not when our focus should be how many rounds of food we can fit in before it runs out). Also, as a quick aside: we don’t actually believe having the right dress/shirt/glass slipper will make someone want to marry you."
That's a pretty great apology, don't you think? I don't know about you, but I'm totally moving on from this. Sometimes, a joke just doesn't land and that seems to be the case here. Considering the case closed.
Now, watch three people explain what gender means to them:
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