Read the room!
Why brands must tune in to culture
Image credit: Maltesers
Maltesers has released a new campaign to celebrate its ninety year anniversary. And it is tone deaf.
The ad shows a jaunty montage of moments through history and into the present day when women have been forced to suffer the injustices of a patriarchal world. From long queues at the loos to medical misogyny and witch trials, in each vignette the women ultimately ‘win’ through solidarity and a dose of PMA.
Mars claims that they are celebrating female sisterhood. Here’s what I see.
A lack of insight
The first problem is relatability. These are not the kind of shared, everyday moments that have historically fuelled the brand’s humour. They are examples of the way the world is structured against women - and they don’t make me want to laugh along.
Image credit: Maltesers
Maltesers has a consistent and successful brand platform in ‘look on the light side’. For decades, it has occupied a particular space in culture, grounded in humour, warmth and the easy intimacy of female friendship.
It has played the jester, gently poking fun at life’s frustrations and inviting women to share a giggle over a box of chocolates.
But there is a difference between finding the fun in the absurdities of daily life and asking women to grin their way through structural inequality.
A platform not utilised
This is what makes the misstep particularly disappointing.
Maltesers has, in the past, used its platform to amplify the experiences of women. It has championed mothers and supported mental health initiatives. It has managed to combine humour with a genuine recognition of women’s lived experience.
Image credit: Maltesers
That work felt grounded, and driven by a genuine commitment to its audience. This new work feels flippant and silly.
Toxic positivity is out
The cultural context has shifted sharply in recent years.
Conversations about gender are more charged, more urgent and less forgiving of glibness. When the news cycle is saturated with stories that expose the pervasiveness of misogyny and abuse of power, audiences are understandably wary of brands that appear to gloss over systemic harm with a sugar-coating of cheerfulness.
The new ad calls upon women to “take off the gloomy mask of tragedy…. put on a happy face!”.
Yes, it’s meant to funny. ‘Just a bit of bants’ – like the pervy wolf whistle, or innocuous grope. That defence has long been used to excuse unacceptable behaviour that erodes women’s safety. And they are tired of it.
A bum note in 2026
The ad’s timing couldn’t be worse. Launching just as the Epstein files are spewing their despicable truths across our news feeds, it feels like a kick in the teeth for women who are at the end of their tether.
Now is not the time to be shifting the spotlight away from men’s offensive acts or poking fun at the patriarchy. Now is the time to be tearing it down.
Women need real allies
Now more than ever, there is a role for brands to support women through meaningful actions, to stand up, boldly, and advocate for systemic change. If they exist for a primarily female audience, that is perhaps even more true.
Maltesers has shown before that it can balance humour with honesty, and can spotlight women’s realities without undermining them. After this turkey of an ad, they need to read the room and recalibrate.
Celebrating sisterhood is a worthy aim, but this isn’t the way to do it.