Industry advertising doesn't shy away from sexist imagery and allusions. It may include:
- sexualized advertisements, using images of conventionally attractive women to sell geek products to an audience of heterosexual men;
- advertisements aimed at women which are condescending or pigeonholing, assuming that women are interested in household chores, children, beauty or socialising.
Examples
The most notorious example of this is the Linux Journal blowjob ad, but other examples abound.
- Mediatemple.net ran a full-age color ad in a 2008 Web Host Magazine prominently featuring a nightclubbing woman's breasts and rouged lips (eyes are cropped out of the picture) with the legend "Serious Support."
- Lacie ran a back-cover ad on a 2008 Mac Life showing a jean-clad woman's backside with the legend, "Does this make my aspect ratio look wide?"
- The expression " So simple, even your [grand]mother could do it" crops up frequently. This phrase is common and damaging enough to warrant its own entry.
- Dell set up a separate website for women laptop buyers which informed them how they could use their laptops for looking up recipes: Shopping for computers is tough!