Uber apologizes for yet another sexist moment

(Credit: AP/Eric Risberg)

Uber being sexist is almost as predictable as changing of the tides at this point. The car service’s latest mess came Sunday when it sent customers in Bangalore, India a note that said: “Dear Husbands, a gentle reminder – Today is Wife Appreciation Day! Order on UberEATS and let your wife take a day off from the kitchen.”

Ewwwwww! http://pic.twitter.com/DRSiRY5yai

— Asawari Ghatage (@11ty1) September 17, 2017

Chief brand officer of Uber, Bozoma Saint John, was alerted about the message after one of Buzzfeed’s India correspondents tagged her in a screenshot of the message on Twitter. The reporter wrote: “would be great if your $69 billion company stopped perpetrating regressive gender stereotypes in India.”

hi @dkhos, @badassboz, would be great if your $69 billion company stopped perpetrating regressive gender stereotypes in India. https://t.co/jr2UXxsBGn

— ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (@PranavDixit) September 17, 2017

Saint John quickly responded and candidly so: “oh hell no,” she tweeted.

Oh hell no. This is completely unacceptable. Will take care of this.

— Bozoma Saint John (@badassboz) September 17, 2017

Uber’s communications department also took to Twitter to officially apologize for the sexist message: “This was totally inappropriate. We’ve removed it and we apologize,” the tweet said.

This was totally inappropriate. We’ve removed it and we apologize.

— Uber Comms (@Uber_Comms) September 17, 2017

The company came under many a fire this year after allegations of rampant sexual harassment, the ejection of founder and CEO Travis Kalanik, and after a sexist joke from an Uber board member during an “all-hands” meeting became public.

Seems like슠@Uber_Comms should just keep that handy apology message in drafts for, you know, the next time. It’s all about planning ahead.