A petition urging online retail giant Amazon to rename its Amazon Mom family discount scheme in the USA has now passed 10,000 signatures. The programme is entitled Amazon Family in the UK and most of Europe, Canada and Japan, but its American moniker has angered many who claim it enforces gender stereotypes.
Dad Jeffrey Harrington set up the campaign three years ago, addressing Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos directly and claiming that in the US, “almost a third of fathers with a spouse in the workforce take care of their kids at least one day a week”. He also explains that “of those with kids under the age of 5, 20% of dads are the primary caretaker” before stating that “I don’t like the message Amazon is sending by reinforcing a stereotype that doesn’t apply to my family, or plenty of others”.
The petition was languishing at 3,000 signatures until four weeks ago when blogging father and campaign supporter Oren Miller passed away, leading the 900-strong Dad Bloggers network that he founded to throw its support behind the mission in honour of his memory. With the increased promotion, the petition hit the headlines and is now on its way to Harrington’s target of 15,000 supporters, although there is still no official response from Amazon.
What with the anti-dad branding from Heinz as well, it seems like big companies just don’t get it yet so it’s great to see people doing something about it. Obviously 10,000 signatures doesn’t compare with a million people demanding a man who punched a colleague be reinstated, but great work all the same.
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