by Imran Siddiquee
Mary on Facebook alerted us to these advertisements for a line of products being sold by Shoals Technologies (they’re also throwing a party tonight celebrating the products at the 2012 Solar Power International convention). Shoals is one of the largest solar manufacturing companies in the world, and their product is called “Nice Rack.” Really.
I don’t really know what these actual “racks” do (I’m imagining they mount solar panels? Maybe?), and I have questions about the naming of the product itself (did they name an entire line of products “Nice Rack” just so they could make ads with women in bikinis!?), but in any case Shoals’ marketing is beyond lazy here. It’s crude and offensive.
These ads not only diminish and trivialize women, but they discourage them from entering a field of work where they are already underrepresented. They also encourage men within the industry to continue to see women as outsiders – valuable only for their beauty and sexuality.
When an influential company like Shoals throws a “Nice Rack” party – the self-proclaimed “biggest solar party of the year,” which is taking place during one of the biggest industry weekends of the year (According to this site, last year’s Solar Power International Event was attended by 24,000 professionals and over 1,200 exhibitors) – they are implying some pretty shallow things about the professional people who will actually be attending said event.
Back in May, when Shoals announced the “Nice Rack” line of products, at least one man in the industry pointed this out:
Shoals tech group speaker said they have a racking solution called “nice rack” i know this is a male-dominated industry but oy vey #gtmss12
— Carter Lavin (@CarterLavin) May 2, 2012
If the advertisements and naming of the product weren’t offensive enough, the company’s response to Mary’s complaint is perhaps even more telling about the mindset at Shoals and of the people who likely approved all of this:
They aren’t just dismissive of Mary, but they mock her concern. Overall, Shoals comes across as an arrogant and sexist (not to mention entirely uncreative) boy’s club.
If anyone is in the market for some solar products, it goes without saying that you should stay clear of these guys for the time being. But the company is also on Twitter, @ShoalsTech, so we can let them know directly that as long as they treat women like this, we are definitely #NotBuyingIt:
UPDATE: The company responded to users’ many #NotBuyingIt tweets with predictable mockery.
And in case there was any doubt about how intentional the whole “Nice Rack” campaign is, they also tweeted this picture from last night’s official company-sponsored “party.”
UPDATE II: Shoals continues to belittle efforts of Twitter users (men and women) who call out their sexist advertising:
We have loved the entertainment the #NotBuyingIt girls have provided today. Thank you for making the slowest day of the show fun.
— Shoals Technologies (@ShoalsTech) September 13, 2012
The company has also begun re-tweeting people’s #NotBuyingIt tweets in an attempt to poke fun at them. Which just reiterates how little respect they seem to have for their potential customers. Women make 86% of purchasing decisions in America, but why would anyone – male or female – continue to buy Shoals products knowing that this is how you are treated when you have a legitimate complaint?
UPDATE III: Shoals begins deleting some tweets
Shoals Twitter account is not changing course:
There are signs that they may have started to catch our drift though, as they’ve begun deleting some of these tweets. Including this one directed at a #NotBuyingIt user:
UPDATE IV:
Constance C. alerted us to this LinkedIn profile image of the President and CEO of the company, which explains a lot:
Mr. Solon is also on Twitter, and you can tweet him by clicking below:
UPDATE V: Shoals tweets an apology! (Sort of)
Apparently openly disrespecting and demeaning people is considered “light hearted fun”? We’ll continue to pressure the company tomorrow and keep you updated on any developments!
UPDATE VII: Shoals apologizes and pledges to end ad campaign:
Over on their official Facebook page, the company just posted this:
“In light of the response our recent ads have had, we at Shoals Technologies Group would like to sincerely apologize. Our corporate culture is one of lighthearted fun and sarcasm, but our frat boys, as they’ve been aptly called, can sometimes go too far. The Green Tech Industry is progressive and innovative, and we are proud to be a part of it. We are leading the way in revolutionizing the solar industry with our products, and have long left behind stuffy corporate attitudes. We have great respect for the women in our industry, and encourage more women to get into solar. Our mama’s raised us right, so please accept our apology.”
UPDATE VIII: Shoals mysteriously takes down Facebook page and apology
But we have a screenshot of the original message and comment which pledged to stop the ad campaign:
We’ve reached out to the company for comment and are awaiting a response.
Imran is the Social Media and Communications Manager at MissRepresentation.org. Follow him on Twitter @imransiddiquee
I feel there needs to be a website giving ratings regarding companies’ behaviors towards women. This is probably one of the most disgusting and disheartening things I’ve seen and I truly hope that whoever has started this campaign gets fired.
They have a Facebook Page, too.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shoals-Technologies-Group/119687085733?ref=ts
I wrote a letter to them using their contact page, but forgot to copy it. As and engineer with many female friends in the design and construction industry, they need t know that their ad campaign is offensive to many who could spec their product.
Bring the noise!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMigfitM7FE&feature=related
I did not but nice rack and breasts together til I saw the ad. I don’t think it is really the most politically correct way to advertise but it is their right to do so. It is kinda like cars and anything else to do with them, they use women to advertise. Carls jr and them idiotic broads drooling over a burger bigger than their food alottment for the year. There is a car commercial where the car is like some sleek, sexy italian woman. Give me a break. I will not be purchasing anything from them at anytime. That is our right but complaining to them, especially with the return comment, is an exercise in futility. If you know any of the men attending find out where they work and hit thm in their wallets therefore hitting Shoal’s in their wallets.
I meant put. pardon my boo-boo : )
First, “rack” has been used for decades, at least. Every guy recognizes this.
Next, of course anyone can say what they want. But the rule is the Government can’t stop them. Consumers have a DUTY to withhold money from oppressors. They have a DUTY to try and stop hate speech, and that’s what this is (just replace the references to women with any other marginalized group).
As someone who works in a male-dominated industry, continually seeing this type of dismissive attitude is very disheartening. Yes, these type of people do have very stubborn and foolish opinions about women and yes it can seem like an exercise in futility to fight against it, but does that means we should give up the fight? As someone who sympathizes with the few women at that convention who probably saw this and felt exposed, alone and belittled, I emphatically say no, we cannot.
Their FB page needs to be bombarded, it seems they have a child on their Twitter account or it could be just some douche. Regardless go to Miss Representations FB page to see how bad their responses are getting…
I am a touch confused, and perhaps more aptly put, incredibly disappointed that of all things all of you could be focusing on currently, you are finding reason to be offended by an advertisement that affects none of you. Now any piece of marketing that has a woman in a bathing suit is immediately offensive? The value of your message is instantly diluted when you take the focus away from fighting real injustice or blatant misogyny and instead focus on an advertisement from a solar company that has a woman in a bathing suit. Have we really reached a point where any sexual innuendo is immediately sexist? Do we really think that this ad is seeking to demean or hate women? People, I think at its worst this is a sophomoric attempt to differentiate a fairly standard product – but to be irate about it is not only a waste of your time but a display of your trivial desire to be offended. We have to move past this culture of political correctness and this unnatural desire people are fostering to find things offensive. Grow up. Just like Shoals should grow up, grow up and do not act as though every bit of sophomoric sexual behavior is a monumental step backwards in the evolution of the sexes.
Hi Tom – I agree, there are bigger problems with the world, but “you are finding reason to be offended by an advertisement that affects none of you” is incorrect. Why? I was attending this conference and work in this industry, and these guys knew this was offensive. They’re not stupid, they wanted some attention (though I don’t think they really thought through the consequences). Maybe you’re responding to the level of vitriol that is some of the replies, but trust me, when I walked by the booth, I immediately felt uncomfortable. There were plenty of people (women and men) at the show that felt the same way, it was definitely a topic of conversation. I’m glad they were called out on the immaturity of the campaign by people outside of the industry.
They actually do make a good product (they’re not a solar module maker, they provide other parts of the systems, including “mounting racks”, hence the “Nice Rack”), and they can differentiate with their sales and service rather than T&A, it’s as simple as that.
“Now any piece of marketing that has a woman in a bathing suit is immediately offensive?”
If it’s not selling bathings suits or suntan lotion, yes it is.
Let me explain it this way. You know how people talk about the dream where you’re about to give a speech to a giant audience and you realize you’re naked or just in your underwear? It’s horrible because not having clothes on while everyone else is fully dressed is demeaning and embarrassing. It makes you feel really exposed and awkward. Having clothes on is comfortable, and being the only one undressed or barely dressed in a public space is uncomfortable and embarrassing. So, when we’re constantly bombarded with images of women mostly unclothed in scenes that have nothing to do with the beach or the pool, indicating that those in power in advertising would prefer us to be undressed, we find it uncomfortable and demeaning.
Very well said, Jen!
This is more than “just a woman in a bathing suit”; this type of advertising is about the hyper sexualization of women used to sell product. Ultimately, if you ask most women about how they feel when they see women’s bodies used as a tool for selling product, they don’t like it; many hate it. When girls get the message from a young age that their greatest value is in their thinness youth and beauty, it diminishes other, more important, qualities. At the end of the day, unless you are a woman, you really cannot dictate what women should and should not find offensive. Similarly, I, as a white person, would feel wrong telling a black person what he or she should find racist. Sure, I can have an opinion on it, but that doesn’t change the real hurt that is felt caused by objectified stereotypes of any group of people.
Oh, but it DOES affect me. It very much helps me decide what companies to NOT do business with should I ever be in the market for solar panels.
A parody has appeared on twitter already! That was damn quick, lol!
https://twitter.com/ShaolsTech
I notice the CEO’s LinkedIn profile photo has changed. http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=172079384
They deleted the apology from Facebook!
This is really, crazy outrageous. I’m totally floored. (And SO getting tired of this crap, right? Yeesh.)
They think they’ve “left behind corporate stuffy attitudes”? Really? How stupid are they? This attitude towards women is one of the things that defines it and overlaps with “corporate frat-boy loutish attitudes”. They really need to take themselves on a retreat and examine their own corporate culture. And fire some people.
Amen to Ann- they need to FIRE some people for this stuff. They are a bunch of playboys from the man’s world, corporate stuffy culture of the past- not the Boston Brahman variety, but the NYC a-hole type that still persists. They represent what is still wrong and the very opposite of progressive in business and PR.
It’s people like these men that make you wish God would flood the earth again, even though he promised not to.
It’s frustrating that as while they appear to be apologizing, they’re really not. Again, they portray this as, “hey uptight ladies, we’re just some guys having some harmless, lighthearted fun here but if you take offence, I guess we’ll apologize but it wasn’t our intention”. This is not an apology. It’s a weak attempt at placating those who are upset with them without acknowledging how their ad is demeaning towards women and was extremely thoughtless. As well, they do not acknowledge any understanding of why women are upset in the first place. If they were truly sorry and understood why there was an outcry over their ads and subsequent handling of the situation they would have expressed hat in their apology, and that is what we are truly hoping for. It is disconcerting that they don’t seem to express any underatanding of how the environment of a business that acts in this way, especially in a male dominated industry, would be seen as a hostile working place for women. Truly disappointing.
I really liked Tod Maffin’s twitter response. Tod is a keynote speaker and President of EngageQ Digital. His tweet went out to 16,000 followers and is an excellent example of the fact that men don’t appreciate this type of behavior in corporate business either.
http://prideandpixel.com/beautiful-intent/tod-maffin-stand-against-shoals-technology.jpg
Apparently they’ve had so much flack that they’ve now deleted both the FaceBook and Twitter pages. Ah, the tactic of the moron: when you are brought to task for being an idiot, erase the evidence, run and hide. *smirk*
I finally found the Twitter page. While it still exists, all of the comments they’ve had flack for have been deleted. The Facebook page is gone.
absolutely disgusting! What company treats their customers that way let alone employees!
Great job, Missrep!! Please continue your amazing work!
[...] we wonder why girls don’t see Engineering as a place where they belong. http://www.missrepresentation.org/notbuyingit/notbuyingit-solar-company-advertises-nice-rack-party/ (via @ocean_Dr, [...]
What is progressive and innovative about this? Really?
[...] Here’s a shade shot of a Shoals picture and tagline along with a criticism posted on a Miss Representation.org blog with stating by Imran [...]
I’m glad people have started to notice this company’s bad behavior! I have been told by engineers that have worked with Shoals that this owner has a motto he likes to repeat and a beer tap with the initials of his motto…LMB…Lick My b*lls.
[...] in our recap of the InterSolar conference, but obviously they did not get the hint. And then when lots of folks started to complain, they really earned the tin star with clusters for boorish behavior beyond the pale. You can [...]
I have to say I am also extremely disappointed with this company, and the way they have behaved in the media and through online communications. I wonder if there is any way to hold them legally accountable for this unprofessional, rude, and simply blatant sexist behavior. The first thoughts that come to my mind: disgusting, disturbing, disappointing, and backwards. That apology, was completely unsatisfying. ‘our mothers raised us right’??? Really? Did they show this to their mothers, ‘hey ma, this is what I have been up to. What do you think?’ Whoever was managing their twitter account should receive some proper training, sexual harassment training for the whole company maybe? Or maybe just a history lesson.
But I guess the main problem is that they do not really care, because it is all about the money. So that is where our criticism should turn into action, or rather inaction. Make others aware of their behavior, so that they will choose another company to do business with.