By Ahlam Ben Saga
By Ahlam Ben Saga
Rabat- An ad sponsored by the Nestlé company, #BghitNtezewaj (“I want to get married”) has sparked condemnation for sexist messaging across social media platforms.
The ad features a mother looking for a wife for her son. To find the best match, the mother tests a group of girls in cooking and house management skills.
Viewers have deemed the ad the Moroccan version of the French reality show, “Who Wants to Marry my Son,” which follows a group of single men who ask their mothers to help them find their future wives.
“Come on show me what you’ve got,” the mother says, as the girls compete to make the best desserts, thus proving their top housewife potential.
Facebook commentators are less than thrilled.
One post reads: “This is an insult to all women, please re-post to put an end to this farce.”
Another Facebook user commented, “[The Nestle ads and others like them] are all clichés, derogatory to every rational human being and more particularly to women.” She goes on saying “It is a nonsensical competition where the girls compete over Sidi Anas, the perfect man, as if they were his concubines.”
Yet another user writes, “Tell me that the happy ending is Sidi Anas marrying the 4 of the ladies at once because they all look like great cooks.”
Tell me that the happy ending is Sidi Anas marrying the 4 of the ladies at once because they all look like great cook @NestleMaroc #baghintzewej #ShameOnNestle
— Aïcha Del-lero (@Aichadell) April 24, 2018
#Baghintzewej, la websérie de Nestlé, est-elle un concentré de sexisme? https://t.co/CThLuOAWXE
— Buzz Gossip (@BuzzetGossip) April 25, 2018
The nutrition magazine, Food Magazine, has taken provided a platform on their official Facebook page for the Nestlé brand manager, Salma Myar, to respond:
“The motivation behind this ad is to give our customers ideas of recipes to use through an advertisement that is not classic, as it is usually during weddings that many of us make desserts,” she explained “it was intended to be a funny subject for debate because of its stereotypical approach.”
Although commentators continue to debate the effectiveness of the strategy, several Moroccans maintain that Nestlé’s gendered messaging is unacceptable, regardless of the company’s reasoning:
“Whether or not @nestle‘s Morocco franchise has intended this to be serious, it pushes forth a problematic trope of the docile and submissive wife, especially in a country where measures to criminalize and prevent domestic violence have a long way to go.”
Here’s a graphic of the show sponsored by @nestle called “I want to get married,” where the mother places an ad for her son “Sidi Anas,” and where he gets to sit back, relax, taste food, and marry the one who cooks best pic.twitter.com/O7neH6uqu0
— Samia Errazzouki (@S_Errazzouki) April 23, 2018
