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Volvo Announces Their New Policy On Parental Leave, But Many People Aren’t Happy With Their Choice Of Illustration
It’s no surprise that the majority of big brands are jumping the bandwagon on progressive and liberal ad campaigns. However, such initiatives often attract a great deal of controversy (for example, two of Gillette’s advertisement campaigns have received huge backlash over their progressive ads – one on body positivity – and the other on toxic masculinity). Now the Swedish multinational manufacturing company, Volvo, has come under the spotlight for featuring two same-sex parents in their most recent ad. The company was introducing its newest paid gender-neutral parental leave policy which was inspired by the Swedish approach to parental leave and chose an illustration of two same-sex parents which stirred up controversy on their Facebook page.
More info: Volvo
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Today, the giant car company, Volvo, has come under fire for featuring two same-sex parents in their ad
Image credits: Volvo cars
The car manufacturing giant has introduced a new policy on paid, gender-neutral parental leave for their employees. This is how Volvo has introduced the idea: “Being the human-centric and progressive company that we are, our EMEA team wondered: Can we extend those benefits to our employees outside Sweden? Turns out we can. To start with, we now introduce a paid, gender-neutral parental leave policy for all our sales company employees in the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East & Africa) offering parents a total of six months of leave with 80 percent pay.” The head of Volvo’s HR also added: “The EMEA initiative is one of several activities with the aim to create an inclusive culture and attract and retain a diverse set of people. It improves life-work balance, boosts family time and fits with a progressive, human-centric company like Volvo Cars.”
Most countries in the EMEA region already offer some form of paid parental leave
However, as Volvo explains, there exists a large discrepancy between what is available for mothers and fathers – often to the disadvantage of the latter. The policy is also aiming to boost the labor market and career opportunities for women by “reducing career and pay gaps.”
It is not the first Volvo initiative on addressing inclusivity
Image credits: Volvo Car UK
Just last year, the car company released an ad called “The new family model.” In the Westfield shopping center in London, Volvo has redesigned the family parking icons to reflect more modern families – including ones of same-sex parents.
However, many people were not happy with Volvo’s choice of illustration
A Volvo representative responded to Michael’s comment saying: “Hi Michael, you are of course entitled to your opinion. However, we must disagree.”
Another user commented that Volvo should feature the same ad on the Volvo Cars United Arab Emirates page. No representative has responded to it yet.
Volvo representatives have also responded to the suggestion, saying: “Hello Konrad. This is part of our people strategy. Being a human-centric company with a culture built on caring about people, this is in line with what we stand for as a company.”
The comment section turned into quite a discussion
Nonetheless, numerous people were celebrating the initiative as well as Volvo’s choice of illustration
What do you think? Is it “too much” for you? Is the company just trying to boost their revenue by exploiting progressive and popular ideas? Or are they really as liberal and human-centric as they claim to be?
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What do you think ?
Tori Grafft 6 years ago
It's more about them just being inclusive and normalizing something that should never have been a stigma, than trying "shove" a social issue down your throat. I bet your grand parents felt the same way when they saw movies/commercials where women had a job outside of the home, or when they showed Black People and White People interacting peacefully like normal human beings.
Suzi Gauthier 6 years ago
Re the comment below, what about the commercials shoving heterosexual relationships down everyone's throat?
Load More Replies...
Elizabeth 6 years ago
Sweden, home of Volvo, is one of the most gender progressive countries in the world. It makes COMPLETE sense that the company would follow suit. I just wonder if some of the people complaining would still be complaining if the ad had featured a female couple instead of male?
Carol Emory 6 years ago
Maybe it's my Swedish heritage, but I agree with you 100%.
Load More Replies...
Kari Panda 6 years ago
Even if you disagree with LGBT - this is a case in which the representation of same sex couples is completely justified. Parental leave is something legally available to every parent. Saying you don’t want this picture is like saying you don’t women to be represented in voting commercials because you think women shouldn’t be allowed to vote.
The Chopstick 6 years ago
It’s time for the lesbian octopus to smack you 🐙
Load More Replies... Tori Grafft 6 years ago
I have been noticing a lot more shows and commercials randomly putting in a LGBT Character without making a big deal about it. Which is great! Because back in the day they would make a whole few minutes centered around that character being gay, and the other people's reactions. Now when an LGBT character brings their date, they just get the same reaction as a non LGBT character bringing their date.
Hans 6 years ago
In Norway, the same parental benefits apply to same-sex couples that do to hetero couples. They even have adapted the language. Two women? You get mor and medmor, literally mom and with-mom, in the sense of "also". Same with far and medfar. We can learn a lot from the scandinavian countries in accepting what ought to be normal. And there is not a single reason to believe that children raised by same-sex couples are any less loved or have any disadvantages. (Says Hans, by the way, a father in a "traditional" wife-husband family.)
Bettina Jansen 6 years ago
Always love people getting triggered about stuff that (in my opinion) shouldn't even get a second look, beyond that "oh, cool" or "oh, nice" reaction.
pusheen buttercup 6 years ago (edited)
Rather than focusing on the fact that they are lgbt, is it possible we could see them as "just a couple"? What if they were black, would it be ok to say "oh, that's not a normal couple, that's a black couple!" Minorities are less common, yes, but there's no reason to make such a fuss just because they're different. Do I believe personally, that everyone should accept each other? Well... let's start with tolerance. I'll do me, you do you. We don't tell the other how to live simply by existing and being happy.
Mark Fuller 6 years ago
WTF?? Why on earth do people even care? The biggest compliment you can pay a gay person is not to give a toss. Because sexuality is no more exciting or interesting or weird or unique than the colour of our eyes or favourite movie. It's a dull, boring fact of life that gay people do indeed exist. Always have. Always will. And FYI for some odd reason, we don't object to or feel threatened by those 'bizarre' straight folk, lol! Well, we're still made to feel unsafe, especially in some backward countries. But we don't look down on those that aren't the same as us.
Tori Grafft 6 years ago
It's more about them just being inclusive and normalizing something that should never have been a stigma, than trying "shove" a social issue down your throat. I bet your grand parents felt the same way when they saw movies/commercials where women had a job outside of the home, or when they showed Black People and White People interacting peacefully like normal human beings.
Suzi Gauthier 6 years ago
Re the comment below, what about the commercials shoving heterosexual relationships down everyone's throat?
Load More Replies... Elizabeth 6 years ago
Sweden, home of Volvo, is one of the most gender progressive countries in the world. It makes COMPLETE sense that the company would follow suit. I just wonder if some of the people complaining would still be complaining if the ad had featured a female couple instead of male?
Carol Emory 6 years ago
Maybe it's my Swedish heritage, but I agree with you 100%.
Load More Replies... Kari Panda 6 years ago
Even if you disagree with LGBT - this is a case in which the representation of same sex couples is completely justified. Parental leave is something legally available to every parent. Saying you don’t want this picture is like saying you don’t women to be represented in voting commercials because you think women shouldn’t be allowed to vote.
The Chopstick 6 years ago
It’s time for the lesbian octopus to smack you 🐙
Load More Replies... Tori Grafft 6 years ago
I have been noticing a lot more shows and commercials randomly putting in a LGBT Character without making a big deal about it. Which is great! Because back in the day they would make a whole few minutes centered around that character being gay, and the other people's reactions. Now when an LGBT character brings their date, they just get the same reaction as a non LGBT character bringing their date.
Hans 6 years ago
In Norway, the same parental benefits apply to same-sex couples that do to hetero couples. They even have adapted the language. Two women? You get mor and medmor, literally mom and with-mom, in the sense of "also". Same with far and medfar. We can learn a lot from the scandinavian countries in accepting what ought to be normal. And there is not a single reason to believe that children raised by same-sex couples are any less loved or have any disadvantages. (Says Hans, by the way, a father in a "traditional" wife-husband family.)
Bettina Jansen 6 years ago
Always love people getting triggered about stuff that (in my opinion) shouldn't even get a second look, beyond that "oh, cool" or "oh, nice" reaction.
pusheen buttercup 6 years ago (edited)
Rather than focusing on the fact that they are lgbt, is it possible we could see them as "just a couple"? What if they were black, would it be ok to say "oh, that's not a normal couple, that's a black couple!" Minorities are less common, yes, but there's no reason to make such a fuss just because they're different. Do I believe personally, that everyone should accept each other? Well... let's start with tolerance. I'll do me, you do you. We don't tell the other how to live simply by existing and being happy.
Mark Fuller 6 years ago
WTF?? Why on earth do people even care? The biggest compliment you can pay a gay person is not to give a toss. Because sexuality is no more exciting or interesting or weird or unique than the colour of our eyes or favourite movie. It's a dull, boring fact of life that gay people do indeed exist. Always have. Always will. And FYI for some odd reason, we don't object to or feel threatened by those 'bizarre' straight folk, lol! Well, we're still made to feel unsafe, especially in some backward countries. But we don't look down on those that aren't the same as us.
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