Samsung South Africa has apologized after a promotional event it held last week in Cape Town was criticized for being sexist. The company has said it will "be more sensitive" in the future.
The event, which featured young women in swimsuits dancing in front of a new line of refrigerators and washing machines, was called "tawdry marketing" by South African tech news site GirlGuides and excoriated in an open letter from South African tech journalist Samantha Perry.
The communications head of Samsung South Africa, Michelle Potgieter, issued a statement Wednesday morning apologizing for causing offense and promising to be more sensitive in the future, GirlGuides reported.
Check out this photo from the event, taken by photo-journalist Axel Buhrmann (story continues below):
Samsung has gotten into trouble in the past for its less-than-flattering depictions of women.
Its March 14 unveiling of the Galaxy S IV handset in New York portrayed women as technologically inept and was called "tone deaf and shockingly sexist" by CNET's Molly Wood.
The Atlantic Wire also points to a few Samsung ads that demonstrate regressive attitude towards women: In one U.S. ad from 2010, a man uses his Samsung phone to silence a girlfriend who is annoying him; a 2012 ad from England features a female reality TV star who appears quite confused by a simple point-and-shoot camera.
It would be nice if Samsung's commercials were even a fraction as smart as some of the technology in its new phone. Dreamers can always dream.
(Hat tip, The Verge)
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