Billboard angers Rochdale career mums

This advert, placed on a billboard on Whitworth Road, was designed to stimulate debate, but it has angered a number of Rochdale mums.

A billboard designed to promote outdoor advertising has caused anger amongst Rochdale mums.

The poster, placed on a billboard on Whitworth Road which reads: ‘Career women make bad mothers’ did not get the reaction the advertising company had hoped for.

The Outdoor Advertising Association (OAA) designed a series of posters similar to this one and placed them up and down the country in a bid to show how powerful outdoor advertising is.

It certainly caught the eye of many shoppers in Rochdale.

Gaye Nield described the billboard as ‘discriminating’. She said: “I have always had a full time job and I do not think that makes me a bad mother. I can’t understand why they would choose to put that up.”

Another shopper added: “I am completely disgusted; the words completely put women down. In this day and age women do work and run families, they should be applauded.” 

The aim of the posters was to demonstrate how outdoor advertising can be used to to drive people online. The posters have been put up in conjunction with a new website called Britainthinks.com which encourages debate amongst the people of Britain. 

The campaign has now been abandoned after hundreds of women posted their rage on the Mumsnet website. The Outdoor Advertising Association had intended the posters to run for a fortnight on buses and billboard sites.

The firm posted a comment on Mumsnet which read: “Three posters were designed to initiate the debate using sport, life and politics and these are supported by dozens of other questions on the website itself.

“Regrettably the question relating to ‘career women’ has caused offence and the OAA unreservedly apologises to anyone who has been offended. This was not our intention and, to ensure that this misunderstanding does not persist, instructions have been given to remove this poster.

“Subject to the vagaries of the weather, all copies will be removed as soon as possible. The sites currently carrying this poster will be either blanked-out or carry one of the other designs. All digital posters have already been removed.”