(UPDATE, November 1, 2015: Acer Philippines’ PR agency on Sunday issued an apology, and the company has updated the #LikeABoss campaign to address the issues raised in this article. You can read the full apology below. I’m told Acer Philippines will also send out a statement “ASAP.”)
Acer Philippines came under fire this week for posting a series of images and text on Facebook that described freelancers as a happy-go-lucky bunch and appeared to celebrate offensive women stereotypes.
The Facebook entry is part of the company’s #LikeABoss ad campaign promoting the company’s latest Android phones and features celebrity and Acer brand ambassador Toni Gonzaga.
One ad suggested that secretaries were very much okay with letting work consume most of their time, as long as their boss — married or not — ultimately became theirs.
Acer Philippines has since taken down one of the spreads which showed the ABS-CBN star wearing an open plaid shirt and chewing a mouthful of fishballs while holding a glass of martini. The ad can be viewed below.
Ime Morales, president of the Freelance Writer’s Guild of the Philippines, wrote a letter to express her concern over how freelancers were depicted in the ad. It reads:
Another spread suggested that women secretaries were very much okay with letting work consume most of their time, even on weekends, just as long as their boss — married or not — ultimately became theirs. As of this writing, it can still be seen on the company’s Facebook page. The photo itself has 170 likes.
This debacle reminds me of those controversial Airbnb ads in San Francisco, wherein the short-term rental startup passively aggressively suggested ways to spend its hotel tax contribution, to which it has reacted quickly and duly apologized for.
I’ve reached out to Acer Philippines for comment and will update if I receive word. Acer Philippines’ PR agency issued an apology on November 1. The statement reads:
(Image credits to Yvette Tan, who managed to take a screenshot of the spread before it was quietly taken down. She also posted Ime Morales’ statement on Facebook.)
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