Sexist Volvo advert

[TorringtonDean]

There’s a radio ad for Volvos at the moment which I find completely nauseating. It features a small girl having a conversation with “daddy” about how great the new Volvo is and some sort of finance offer. He says “did mummy put you up to this”. Then he goes on to ask what she wants for her birthday and she says “a new Volvo” in a tone of voice exactly like Verruca Salt in Charlie and the Chocolate factory.

The whole thing is completely sexist with the implication that only men can actually afford to shell out for a new Volvo while their manipulative wives and daughters will be pushing them to put their hands in their wallets. Hugely insulting, I think.

For the record, I drive a Volvo myself, I’m a woman, I pay all the bills and I’ve always admired their reliability and safety. But what with this sexist ad and scrapping estate cars, I don’t think this ad is encouraging me to get another one.

Is Volvo being unreasonable?

It's on LBC a lot. I agree with you and I also think when I hear it that firstly who has the money to buy someone else a car for a birthday present in the current cist if living crisis and secondly I love cars and wouldn't want someone picking a car for me and lastly what is she buying him for his birthday!
I am a (ex) petrolhead and am now a lone parent. I have always been the main earner and now I am alone I still struggle to get some car sales people to take me seriously. I actually regret not getting a volvo last time.

I was told a few years ago that car ads are all samey and terrible because they’re largely funded by dealerships and car dealers (mainly men) simply can’t fathom that not all potential customers would be persuaded by lingering shots of gleaming red paintwork and a sexy lady’s voiceover.

The radio ad sounds gross and annoying – could try reporting to the Advertising Standards Authority

I've heard this ad a few times on greatest hits radio too. I hadn't thought about it that much but in fact you're right, the idea that the woman would be reliant on the man deciding to make a large financial purchase is pretty sexist. We're currently in the process of buying a new car and we are both involved in the choosing/decision process. Even though he earns most of the household income, I certainly wouldn't be asking my husband to buy me a car, we're buying a family car together.

I wonder if they have different ads on different stations. Perhaps the average Times radio listener is a bit old-fashioned in their gender stereotyping. Ads are created to appeal to a given audience, after all.

I think a lot of adverts are Sexist. If there is a Buffoon or a Gormless idiot asking stupid questions it's nearly always the man. Are we Women so fragile that we can't be the daft ones?

Hate the ad but admit it was initially the whiney kid voice ( why do they all sound like that in ads?) but I find it sexist and tone deaf in the COL. I wouldn’t be able to afford a new one but if I could, this would put me right off.

I can change a tyre a wiper topup liquids etc. I still call road assist to change tyres because that's what I'm paying every month for.
Car world is extremely sexist. Which is stupid because there's a niche market, someone needs to come up with the car make for women.

I was in your shoes.
All I'm saying is, you don't know what the future holds.

Radio adverts are often shit, maybe 30 years behind tv advertising. Email Volvo and tell them it is awful.

It’s hardly good marketing to deter half your target market!

Cars are clearly just as much for women as for men - drivers seem to be very much evenly split. In the case of Volvos a LOT are driven by women with families! And lots of women are paying their own way and don’t have some sort of sugar daddy buying them.

I really hate the ad because of the idea that whiney women and their whiney daughters are entirely dependent on men to buy them a Volvo.

Yeah, and not “oh look, the new Volkswagen Beetle comes with a built in vase!” (which they did about 20 years ago)

Which gender do you think buy the most cars?

Where are you pulling this stat from?

It's not true of any female drivers in my world!

This thread has made me wonder if the car world is the only domain where it is deemed important to be 'interested' in the item in a general sense, and to know how to fix the item, in order to buy the item. I'm thinking about other big purchases, household appliances, even actual houses etc. It is generally assumed that the person who will use the item the most, or the person paying, will make that decision based on whether it suits their needs. Why is anybody even mentioning things like how to change a tyre, when nobody would say the same about filters on your tumble drier or whatever...particularly related to whether one is qualified enough to make a purchasing decision. It makes no sense really, especially since the reality for most owners of both cars and tumble driers is that if something stops working, you call someone in to fix it, unless it is very minor. I don't really get why men are deemed to be superior in choosing cars, because they are slightly more interested in cars and slightly more likely to be able to change a tyre.

Maybe they’ll be pulled up on it. Mondelez fell foul of gender stereotypes when they advertised Philadelphia cheese by portraying men as incompetent with children. Same with VW when they portrayed women as passive alongside “adventurous” men.

I go to BTCC and F1 events and I never feel out of place as a woman (I definitely did back in 2000s though!)

So it's a shame that car companies are still like this which surprises me because behind the scenes - many of the engineers / designers are female!

You'd also think that the marketing and PR team would be better than that and not approve of such adverts 🤔

I'm like the only woman in my friend group that's passionate about cars.

Car is something that takes me from point A to point B. I don't think I need to be passionate about it to buy one. Can research it like any other planned purchase.

This thread has made me wonder if the car world is the only domain where it is deemed important to be 'interested' in the item in a general sense, and to know how to fix the item, in order to buy the item.

I’m interested in cars. I bought my first one based on its power to weight ratio and general performance compared to rivals.

I have no interest in fixing them. My husband is a competent mechanic so I leave that to him.

TBF I also know lots of blokes that wouldn't know how to do this.

My DF taught me to change a tyre, top up coolant, and change the oil on my first car before I had even passed my driving test 40 years ago...

I caught this advert the other day and thought the same!

I'm fiercely independent, so hate help on anything should be able to do myself. My DP is a mechanic, he does the major work on my cars but i know (& do!) the basics such as oil & filter changes, brake pads etc.

I have 3 vehicles, he has 2. We have no say on what each other buy and we do not finance each others purchases. This is normal in my world, most of the females i know can service their own cars, as can the men.

11.8 million women buy new cars every year https://www.smmt.co.uk/2018/04/female-car-owners-up-20-in-a-decade-reveals-uks-biggest-automotive-motorparc-analysis/#:~:text=UK's%20biggest%20automotive%20analysis%20by,a%20decade%20to%2011.8%20million.
Volvo are way behind the curve in this sexist advertisement. Sounds like it’s written in 1970.

This is normal in my world, most of the females i know can service their own cars,

I suspect your world is very small.

I love a Volvo but didn’t buy one last time as the sales person kept sticking his head inside the car where I was sitting in the driver’s seat to point things out. I twice asked him to stop invading my personal space as I was recovering from Covid and didn’t want to catch it again. He apologised , popped his head out then did the exact same thing again, so I left.

Remember even the Queen could service her Landy

Oh I completely agree! It’s outdated nonsense. But perhaps a lot of the Times audience are people (men and women) whose lived experience is that the men are the primary breadwinners and responsible for making large financial decisions. There will be a lot of audience research and data placing the listenership in set categories.

There’s a really interesting history behind Subaru advertising and ‘implied’ lesbianism at a time when it wouldn’t have been acceptable to be overtly appealing to the pink pound.

But I do entirely agree with you! I have worked within the car industry on many occasions and it’s insulting how often I’m ignored in favour of a male junior colleague.