Detail in Myer underwear ad sparks heated debate: 'Hypocritical'
Myer's marketing material for men's and women's underwear has come under fire for being the "definition of double standards" as a fiery debate erupts online.
Customers have pointed out that the images on the department store's website encourages body positivity for women but fails to do the same for men.
"Something positive is going on at Myer, but seems half the marketing dept didn't get the memo," a Myer shopper wrote online, accompanied by a picture of the photos in question.
The underwear ad shows five images of women modelling a range of underwear and sleepwear, as well as six of men wearing briefs.
While the ads for women celebrate all shapes and sizes, a true representation of society, Reddit users took aim at the male models who all donned gym-honed physiques and washboard abs.
"Why are all the guys so skinny? Body positivity is for men too," one person hit out.
"I want to see dad bods. Big hairy bellies with men that look like Santa Claus," said another.
One person claimed the feelings of men are often "outright mocked and belittled".
"It is a shame how little society as a whole cares for the thoughts and feelings of men," they said.
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Many men who saw the ad said they weren't too bothered by it, although some called it "hypocritical".
Some even pointed out a few possible reasons why Myer might have created the ad in such a way.
"The women's one is organised by general categories. The men's one is organised by brand. Maybe the brands have a say in how they're marketed, the contrast needn't be some grand conspiracy against men's well-being," one said.
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Another pointed out that it's typically women who do the shopping, and said the ad was targeted at them.
"If you know men you know they don’t care about the advertising of men's undies. You could literally put a frog in jocks and sell it to any guy as long as that frog looks comfortable," they argued.
"The single and only reason they used ripped guys on male undie ads is for women who buy undies for their partners."
Some didn't see an issue at all and said "we should all aspire to be fit and healthy".
"Society needs to stop coddling everyone (mainly women) and start fixing the serious issue of obesity," one said.
Myer 'takes diversity seriously'
Yahoo News Australia understands that Myer has made an effort to embrace all body types, ages, heights and backgrounds in various campaigns in recent years.
It's believed these images are part of a three-week campaign and various images will be used within that time.
A Myer spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia that Myer "takes diversity seriously."
"Myer has a proud record of embracing and showing the diversity of the Australian community in our advertising - this includes all body types, ages, heights, and backgrounds," they said.
"In our latest campaign we have a diverse range of models across men’s and women’s fashion and you will see the diversity of the models used as this campaign rolls out."
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