Last but not least: Lufthansa lets antiquated role models fly
Lufthansa sent out a promotional postcard of a very special kind: The card sparked outrage online and was described as sexist and outdated.
In the last few days, Lufthansa has sent out an advertising letter addressing male customers of the Miles&More card - with "Dear Darling". The letter writer goes on to ask her "dear darling" to use his credit card to order the Lufthansa card for her so that she can benefit from a subscription to Vogue, among other things. "You know how much I like browsing through magazines like that". Finally, the letter ends with the signature "Your Special Women" with a kiss underneath. The whole campaign is sexist in so many ways and takes the reader back to the 1950s that such a campaign can no longer be taken seriously. Lufthansa must have thought so too, because they apologized and emphasized according to Focus.de: "It had not been the intention to serve outdated role models". Lufthansa's reaction was followed by a storm of protest on Facebook and Twitter. According to Focus.de, the online edition of Süddeutsche Zeitung responded with a letter to Lufthansa. In it, the author thanks the men on their behalf: "After the initial shock of reading this letter, they were relieved to discover that they have a woman who earns her own money, has her own credit card and even collects her own air miles."
Pressetext.ch does not take such a narrow view of this campaign. Here, the advertising mail is described as a "supposedly sexist advertising campaign". Some women were "outraged" by the antiquated image of women conveyed by this letter. Pressetext interviewed brand expert Thomas Otte. He says: "Lufthansa's advertising campaign is cautiously original and has no potential for polarization. This outrage is an interesting example of artificially sparked outrage culture". He continues: "This exaggerated political correctness on the part of frustrated outrage artists stifles all creativity, originality and individuality in our society. As a result, only the mainstream is accepted."
Since Mr. Otte is rather enthusiastic about the clumsy kind and is unable to recognize the subtle differences, we have found just the right little film for him:
