A US company recently came under fire for its “sexist” presentation of lampshade outfits for hostesses at an event. The online outcry began when someone shared a picture from the event showing two women posing with lampshades bearing the company’s logo on their heads. The image quickly attracted attention for all the wrong reasons.
The outcry eventually triggered a reaction from the company: The CEO apologized and added that the incident was “unacceptable.”
The incident occurred during an event called “CyberRisk Collaborative Happy Hour” sponsored by Palo Alto Networks at the Black Hat conference.
As soon as the image of the dummy models appeared on social media, people vented their anger. Among them is Olivia Rose, a Security Maturity Strategist, who wrote: “Shame. Shame. Shame on you,” adding: “So we women are nothing more than props to you? We’re just on BlackHat to be lampshade holders?? Are they supposed to represent the bright ideas in our heads or… just lightbulbs? Shame on you. Just shame. Do better. It’s really not that hard.”
CEO of Indian origin responded with an official apology
The company’s CEO, Nikesh Arora, apologized shortly after the scandal. “Let me be clear: What happened was unacceptable. We could and should have done better. We will do better,” he said in a post on LinkedIn.
“We have investigated how the error occurred and addressed the issue within our events team and across the marketing organization to ensure we consistently follow our marketing policies,” he added.
You can read the full apology here.
While most people appreciated the CEO’s quick response to the matter, some felt the idea should never have been considered in the first place.
One user wrote: “I think someone with sense should have stopped this while it was still live. What does that say about everyone who works there? We’re waiting for our boss to send an email?! This reminds me of Beauty and the Beast where everyone was cursed and the villagers didn’t care either.”
Another person added: “To bring this to the conference level, multiple people would have to sign this, which means your company really failed the smell test. This isn’t just a marketing problem. And this is more than a diversity problem, it’s a misogyny problem.”
Palo Alto Networks is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The company deals with cybersecurity and helps organizations prevent cyberattacks.
(With contributions from agencies)
