Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Site stuff

Join our Innovation Panel to try new features early and help make Mumsnet better.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

Official Complaint to Mumsnet

639 replies

CoconutQueen · 02/02/2023 09:47

Totally inappropriate enormous vibrator adverts now ALL over Mumnset.

What on earth are you thinking of? Is Mumsnet really that short of cash that they have to stoop this low?

Not to mention the ridiculous woke language ie "people with wombs".

Totally inappropriate on ALL levels.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
13
ValerieDoonican · 03/02/2023 13:59

@C8H10N4O2 indeed. My Mum had a vibrator - and I'm 60 😂

discobrain · 03/02/2023 14:10

C8H10N4O2 · 03/02/2023 13:51

The current generation of grandmas were dancing naked at festivals in the swinging sixties and shagging seventies.

But its sweet to see each new generation thinking its invented sex and discovered gender stereotypes.

Show quote history

I'm almost forty-six.

Have a lovely day.

NameOchangeO1 · 03/02/2023 14:15

ZeroFuchsGiven · 02/02/2023 10:08

It looks like an aiwick air freshener.

It really does. I'm not going anywhere near my womb with that.

ShreksEars · 03/02/2023 14:26

discobrain · 03/02/2023 14:10

I'm almost forty-six.

Have a lovely day.

Show quote history

So old enough to be a grandma, so why the ageism? Or don't you mind 'isms' too busy looking for phobia?

C8H10N4O2 · 03/02/2023 14:47

discobrain · 03/02/2023 14:10

I'm almost forty-six.

Have a lovely day.

Show quote history

So not even the excuse of youthful ignorance. Just normal ignorance and ageism.

discobrain · 03/02/2023 15:54

I think you were the ones bringing age into it.

This thread has jumped the shark.

GoodChat · 03/02/2023 16:55

discobrain · 03/02/2023 15:54

I think you were the ones bringing age into it.

This thread has jumped the shark.

I don't think you know what 'jumped the shark' means.

MNHQ
CherylMumsnet · 03/02/2023 16:56

Hi @monsteramunch we flagged this specifically to Smile Makers along with all the other feedback and they changed the post. It was a mistake on their part and ours for not spotting it quickly enough. Thanks for raising.

duvet · 03/02/2023 17:17

Also dont appreciate this I can no longer open Mumsnet on the PC in the lounge. :-(

Somanyquestionstoaskaboutthis · 03/02/2023 17:32

ZeroFuchsGiven · 02/02/2023 11:49

Another gem from their site.

To be cisgender or cissexual is someone who's gender identity is the same as the sex they were assigned at birth. Someone with female genitals for example, may identify as a woman and so would be known as cisgender, often abbreviated as cis.

I know I’m a day later but this has stopped me in my tracks. Bloody hell @MNHQ why are you partnering with these people??

WOMEN ARE WOMEN. NOT BLOODY CIS WOMEN. JUST WOMEN. How offensive can you get on a woman's site??

Catnary · 03/02/2023 18:59

CherylMumsnet · 03/02/2023 16:56

Hi @monsteramunch we flagged this specifically to Smile Makers along with all the other feedback and they changed the post. It was a mistake on their part and ours for not spotting it quickly enough. Thanks for raising.

Any insight on the use of “Moms” in the instagram post? To be fair, it was Mumsnet that taught me that “Mom” is widely used in the Midlands…does the Whisperer have a special Brummie-gasm setting?

SilverCatStripes · 04/02/2023 08:49

What a bloody awful marketing campaign. It strikes me as being written by people who aren’t mums and don’t know anything about sex and/or a healthy attitude to sex.

I have never seen sex in motherhood is being taboo. Sex as a middle aged women is far more unspoken about.

MassiveWordSalad · 04/02/2023 10:22

@CherylMumsnet

A 'mistake'?? It is not an easy mistake to make, putting baby bottle images as bullet points!! It's not, oh I just clicked the wrong button...

Did it make Mumsnet think, actually who the fuck are we collaborating with here?? I hope an in-depth conversation is going on behind the scenes, behind the 'it was a mistake' nonsense that is just the same sort of hot air we get from politicians 🙄🙄

MassiveWordSalad · 04/02/2023 10:26

SilverCatStripes · 04/02/2023 08:49

What a bloody awful marketing campaign. It strikes me as being written by people who aren’t mums and don’t know anything about sex and/or a healthy attitude to sex.

I have never seen sex in motherhood is being taboo. Sex as a middle aged women is far more unspoken about.

Indeed @SilverCatStripes

And Mumsnet has helpfully provided a sex topic where any of us who are middle-aged could discuss this stuff if we wanted to, but the place is of course overrun with men trying to get their jollies. Not Mumsnet's fault, but an example of the shit that WOMEN have to put up with all the fucking time.

GCAcademic · 04/02/2023 11:04

LetTheLiquorTalk · 02/02/2023 17:19

The timing of allowing the sex topic in active is obvious and shows a lack of care to women, the ones who make your forum a success. You should be ashamed.

And the sex topic is full of pervy men, you know that. You should address that.

Show quote history

I totally agree. I ventured on there the other day and quickly backed out because it was overrun with creepy men.

PlaitBilledDuckyPuss · 04/02/2023 11:27

GCAcademic · 04/02/2023 11:04

I totally agree. I ventured on there the other day and quickly backed out because it was overrun with creepy men.

Show quote history

It's overrun by posters who spell the word 'come' as 'cum'. No thanks.

Jibo · 04/02/2023 14:26

Just adding my voice here. The product looks crap, the messaging is misogynistic and completely inappropriate... the whole partnership is awful and urgently needs rethinking. Really disappointed in Mumsnet right now.

EmpressaurusOfWitchesBackFromTheDead · 04/02/2023 14:54

I don’t think any sensible MNer would buy a sex toy from two men who think ‘cis’ is a thing, but I’m also curious about what they thought partnering with Mumsnet would do for their corporate image. Given all the bollocks about people with wombs / vulvas, you’d think they’d view it as social media suicide. Is it possible that catering to the woke market isn’t profitable enough?

WombsofWimbledon · 04/02/2023 16:48

It gives me flashbacks to The Apprentice episode a million years ago where they come up with a magazine for over 60s and call it Hip Replacement with a load of patronising articles.

Crozzlypocket · 04/02/2023 16:49

Few points.

  1. Wtf Mumsnet, read the room.
  2. 'smile makers' <boak>It makes me want to turn inside out with cringe. That said, I might consider it if it were called the screamer. 'sexual beings'?!! Treat me like human being (an adult human female at that) and I might be inclined to consider the product.
  3. The softly softly poor womby people have forgotten to do sex and must be feeling so coy about it that they need to 'gently explore'. Are you shitting me?? Have these people done ANY market research?!! As others have said, the biggest barrier to sex for a mother is hormones, pain, useless fathers, lack of sleep and an actual extra tiny human who has crashed the party with all the crying and the needing. A smile maker for me in the early days would have been one of these cringebag marketers to turn up on my doorstep and make me a damned cup of tea.
(4. 'shrek's ear' 🤣🤣🤣 )
  1. The correlation between making the sex topic active and the appearance of these ads. Did the creepy smile dudes suggest it? Are you being groomed Mumsnet?! Or are you grooming us, and by much more worrying proxy our kids? Mine spotted it instantly when I was using the laptop on the sofa next to them. In some ways thankfully they're older (old enough to have steadily taken the piss ever since and temporarily ruined my life because I keep walking into the unrelenting jokes becasue I'm not as quick or witty as them), so other kids, younger kids, MUST have been exposed to it. It's weird, just stop it Mumsnet.
  2. An intrusively and creepily marketed vibrator by TWO BLOKES???

I'm just gonna pause right here and get my mumsy sowing machine out and gently explore the patterns for a bunting of red flags.

picklemewalnuts · 04/02/2023 17:03

I hate the sex topic appearing in Active. I may actually stop using active at all. It's really intrusive.

Crozzlypocket · 04/02/2023 17:04

Oh god I didn't even mention THE BOTTLES. Ok.

  1. No woman in the history of ever has said 'damn, do you know what's missing from this advert when I'm trying to purchase this vibrator? A reminder of how I feed my babies. No really! I want it rammed down my throat that I'm a mum, even when the timing is hideously inappropriate. Seriously. When I'm right on the edge I want you to run into my bedroom and whisper 'the early learning centre' in my ear'. The only way this is not a creepy move is if the graphic designers are 17 year old boys and trying to think of things that relate to mums. Please tell me they're 17. The other explanations are very icky.
GrisleyR · 04/02/2023 17:52

How do I stop the sex topic appearing please? I have clicked onto sex, but only have the option to follow, not hide.
I really don't want it popping up - I read everything on Mumsnet via ' Active', but, because of personal reasons, do not want to see any sex topic headlines.
How do I hide the whole topic please?

anyolddinosaur · 04/02/2023 18:07

Well it's said there is no such thing as bad publicity. I guess the marketing team were hoping this would get picked up somewhere else - but it's probably too icky for that.

It's a campaign for men really ,isn't it. Buy one of these and maybe the new mum will let you near her (or him, musnt be transphobic, must we). Bottles for bullet points to remind you that she doesnt have to breastfeed.

If I'd been bought one of these when sleep deprived it might have found a new home in the buyer's throat.

EmpressaurusOfWitchesBackFromTheDead · 04/02/2023 19:52

GrisleyR · 04/02/2023 17:52

How do I stop the sex topic appearing please? I have clicked onto sex, but only have the option to follow, not hide.
I really don't want it popping up - I read everything on Mumsnet via ' Active', but, because of personal reasons, do not want to see any sex topic headlines.
How do I hide the whole topic please?

I don't know for the app but if you're on the website:

Click the person icon in the top right corner.
Click on settings.
Click on more settings.
Click on Talk settings.
Scroll to the bottom of the page.
Click on Manage hidden threads and topics.
Type Sex into the search box & when it appears, click Hide.