TwitterHey, females! You can finally leave the kitchen! But only to do your man's laundry, and then it's back to the kitchen to make him some sandwiches.
That's the vibe that this Indonesian sports apparel manufacturer is giving out just based on the washing instructions that are on their tags.
The jerseys that Salvo Sports manufactures of the Indonesian soccer team Pusamania Borneo come with very specific washing instructions. No, not "tumble dry low" or" hand wash only." It basically says: "go back to the 1950s and live in that time period to get this washed correctly."
What it actually says is: "Give this to your woman. IT'S HER JOB."
Wait, are women still trying to have jobs outside of housework? For shame, ladies! Thank you, Salvo, for reminding us that it's a woman's job to make sure the men in their life always have sportswear that is freshly-laundered.
Photos of the offensive tag went viral on social media, and consumers started angrily tweeting at Salvo Sports:
Don't buy Salvo. @SALVO_ID, what is wrong with you? pic.twitter.com/a19aEUrqTd
? Steve Mahaley (@smahaley) March 10, 2015Hey @SALVO_ID you're humiliating my husband: he could wash better than me, even if he has a PhD in Math and working full time in office
? Isti D (@javadvipa) March 10, 2015BOLD. CAPITAL LETTERS. Those lowly cavemen @SALVO_ID just forgot to UNDERLINE their ice aged crappie stand pic.twitter.com/kfX56zp1gd
? Yanti Indrawanto (@Anda_Yanti) March 10, 2015@SALVO_ID I wonder if your mothers think the tag of your jersey and your piss poor attempt at an apology are as funny as you #boycottsalvo
? Colleen Finnegan (@Colleeeeeeenxx) March 9, 2015The company posted an apology to Twitter after the backlash explaining that they didn't mean to be sexist (as translated by Jakarta Globe):
"The message is simply, instead of washing it in the wrong way you might as well give it to a lady because they are more capable. There's no intention to humiliate women. In contrast, (we want to tell men) to learn from women on how to take care of clothes because they pay attention to details. Not all men understand/know how to take care of their own clothes, women are more knowledgeable/experts on such matters. We apologize profusely for any misinterpretations."
Salvo, if your intention was to infer that women are better at laundry than men and they should just take care of the dirty jersey, that's still pretty offensive. And if that was an attempt at a humorous jab at men's ability to clean stuff, why didn't you make the label something like: "Give this to your woman, she'll be better at washing it than you" or "Have your woman teach you how to wash this"? Do you see the problem? We certainly hope so.
The company posted the apology to Twitter on Sunday, which also happened to be International Women's Day. So thanks for reminding women everywhere why we need a day like that, Salvo.