The M&S window in Nottingham has caused lots of debate due to the sexist connotations behind the windows, although, I’m not sure if it’s just me but I personally feel like I wouldn’t of even noticed this, yet when being brought up I do admit I was a bit surprised as with a closer look it maybe doesn’t look right side by side as it could be seen to suggest men are dressed professionally for work and to look important whereas women are more focused on looking sexy.
However, M&S have said their window campaigns highlight their bestsellers and that men’s suits and women’s lingerie are there top sellers so in that sense it can’t be as offensive if it is just reality of the products which consumers purchase more of. They said their windows displays featured different categories of bestsellers, I also feel that if they didn’t stand by their display, they’d be accepting the negative connotations behind it, opening themselves up for backlash, instead of trying to move people past the issue and to allow people to just see it for what it is, their bestsellers in store, however, they could put out a public comment to help justify their decisioning behind it and clarify it was not done intentionally to help people who may be upset/offended by it.
I do understand the possible meanings suggested by it and the concerns for impact on young people who walk past and see, however I do believe it was unintentional and that sometimes people do read into things to much its as if we are all searching for problems and waiting until people/companies slightly slip up. Although, the phrasing “must have fancy little knickers” doesn’t quite help their case on this one, so making it slightly more confusing.
When I was first brought to my attention during a seminar, I did think how could someone put this display together yet not realise the adverse connotations behind it which could clearly be seen as offensive, however after reading online about the reasoning behind and thinking if I’d actually stop and notice it myself had me questioning my opinion.
I also saw the image of the window reposted on twitter by influencer Olivia Buckland, who said: “Ridiculous. Why can’t people just chill. I love a nice pair of pants for Xmas. Jeeeeeez.”
One lady commented saying how she works in lingerie department as M&S and this campaign is all about selling, the bestsellers are being advertised as they are trying to survive this Christmas and as a retailer on the highstreet, encouraging people to buy products and help keep their jobs. However, the fact a worker wrote this does make me question whether it was a publicity stunt to draw attention to the highstreet retailer at it’s peak Christmas time to possibly get people talking and therefore get more customers, although, this is questionable as you could say they might potentially get less customers due to the people who disagree with the window and the morals behind it, making it quite a risky business move.
Other comments are against it saying it’s sending subliminal messages to young girls into believing a gender stereotype however others contradict this by saying their children wouldn’t even notice, and that kids are innocent.
I personally feel as though maybe they should’ve been more careful with how they positioned the window display as nowadays people are so easy to raise issues with anything, and yes, the display could be seen as quite sexist. However, I feel as though it wasn’t intentional and shouldn’t be offensive if it is just the reality of what consumers buy from them and maybe sometimes we all need to stop looking too deeply behind things?
Lauren Tomlin 