Abrasive products company Scotch-Brite, has said that it is updating its packaging to “move on from regressive beliefs”.
The issue came to the fore when communication and advertising executive Karthik Srinivasan in a LinkedIn post on July 15 pointed out that the packaging logo had the vector of a woman, with the India specific packaging further having the woman with a bindi on her forehead.
“The logo has the vector image of a woman (with a bindi, to differentiate this from their earlier, other country logos that also had a woman's face)! I wondered if all products from Scotch-Brite have this logo. While a lint roller does not carry this, other products like scrub pad/sponge, sink brush, broom, toilet brush carry it.,” he noted.
Adding: “Scotch-Brite products are enormously useful and I love the 3M brand. But it does look like this addition is indicative of 3M’s assumptions of who is likely to use the product. The gender marker is clear when you see that the lint roller, which has a man’s coat in the product pack, doesn’t have it!”
He further added that when 3M launched Scotch-Brite in India in 1990, they may have “conceived this addition for 'user-centric' cues and since forgotten all about it.”
“But, in 2020, such gender markers seem awkward and out of place. I sure hope the good folks at 3M take note of this legacy logo and update it,” he said.
In response to his post, Reply by Atul Mathur, Head – Marketing, Consumer Business at 3M India thanked Srinivasan for his insight and said “You have correctly surmised that this is a legacy vector, and that it is undoubtedly time to move on from regressive beliefs.”
He further recognised that while the road to drive behavioural change externally has started, they have also begun to work ‘internally’ on changing the brand vector.
“I am pleased to inform you that you will see the logo change a few months down the line,” Mathur said.
Responding to media queries, a 3M India spokesperson further said that the new logo would nor display a woman as household chores are equally shared by all family members and “we understand the need to make the product packaging gender neutral."
The company spokesperson added that 3M is committed to promoting brands that display diversity.
"We recognise that the current packaging of Scotch-Brite carries a legacy vector that does not reflect the sentiments and mindset of today’s consumers. 3M India would like to apologise to anyone whose sentiments were hurt due to the controversy on comments by our Scotch Brite manager being taken out of context,” the spokesperson added.
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