Fortacloud is a cloud storage company. Today, it tweeted a discount offer with an apparently unrelated photo of a woman in underwear:
50% off Mondays. Promo Code: 50OFFMONDAY. Limited to first 150 signups. #VPS #COUPON http://t.co/8i23C3VBPQ
Somehow the reaction on Twitter did not go over well. The company explained the photo was meant to appeal to its male customer base.
@RichardPrice Well, 99% of our customers are male between the ages of 18 and 42, similar to another industry. See https://t.co/KvuH8MlEWo.
Annnnnnndddd.... BOOM! There goes the link to the dictionary definition of "sexism".
@RichardPrice I don't believe it falls under the definition of sexism. http://t.co/rdfOy9j795. Sorry if we offended you.
Someone then responded with a link to the Wikipedia section for "Objectification" in the sexism entry. FORTAcloud dug its heels in deeper.
@randompunter @RichardPrice According to Wikipedia, advertising with images of beautiful girls is sexism. Certainly, we are one among many.
FORTAcloud responded to another complaint by comparing its ad to other ads.
@AdamTuttle We have many of both Adam. Do you not recall the #godaddy Super Bowl ads a few years back?
People were not happy.
@FortaCloud @RichardPrice I am not offended. I just think it is ridiculous and will absolutely not be a customer of yours. I'm 21 and male.
@FortaCloud @RichardPrice I'm not offended of the photo, but I am offended you think this is acceptable business behaviour. It's not.
@FortaCloud @RichardPrice This 34 year old male will not use your services after that stupid stunt.
.@FortaCloud As a potencial (male) customer I found this sexist and offensive. And saying "everyone does it" is making it worse.
FORTAcloud has used a similar marketing technique for its Facebook account in the past:
BuzzFeed News has attempted to contact FORTAcloud (its phone number is disconnected and email bounces). We will update if other attempts to contact them are returned.