LITTLEWOODS IRELAND have released a new TV ad for their spring/summer 2014 collection.

It features a woman who is worried about attending her school reunion, because she doesn’t know what people will think of her.

However, the fairy godmother (aka Caroline Morahan) then appears to sort things out.

She takes three photos for the nervous woman to show off at the reunion. Meanwhile, there’s the following voiceover:

Cute kids? Check. Handsome husband? Check. Beautiful home? Check.

And the pictures are a big success with the woman’s old pals:

However, a number of viewers have reacted negatively to the ad.

Some pointed out that there is no mention of the woman’s job – or that work and careers might also be a discussion point for the reunion.

Blogger Lizzie Sibbald wrote a piece criticising the commercial, asking:

Do these people think women contribute nothing more to society than caring about dresses and parading our perfectly dressed children in peoples faces?

and adding:

It’s just another entry on the exhaustingly long list of Irish (and international) advertisers getting it so wrong. Because remember girls, all we’re meant to care about is shopping and finding a husband.

Some viewers simply voiced their anger:

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Here’s the full ad:

In a statement, Littlewoods Ireland said they were “disappointed that a small number of viewers of our new TV advert have concerns of this nature”.

The company added:

It was never our intention to define women through specific accomplishments. We chose the scenarios featured simply because we know that people often like to share photos of their family when meeting up with old friends and acquaintances at such events.

We don’t believe that they share photos at such times in order to define their accomplishments but rather because these photos are enjoyable to see and share.

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