An Australian university has come under fire after eagle-eyed passers-by noticed something strange on one of its advertising posters.
The University of Adelaide has been ridiculed after a picture resurfaced online showing a young man explaining something to five women who looked unimpressed, annoyed and bored.
It wasn’t long before others pointed out that it appeared the student was “mansplaining,” a term that refers to a man explaining something to a woman in a condescending manner and assuming she has no knowledge on the subject.
“Apparently you can now do a Masters in Mansplaining,” read one caption posted alongside the image.
And thousands of people rushed aboard.
“Every woman has a PhD in the subject, he just read a Reddit thread,” one woman laughed.
While another laughed at how bored all the women in the photo looked.
However, the university has distanced itself from the advertisement, saying it actually belongs to Renewal SA posters outside the former Royal Adelaide Hospital.
The University of Adelaide is being ridiculed by thousands of people over a resurfaced image from 2018 showing a young white man explaining something to five women who looked unimpressed, annoyed and bored.
“This image is not from an advertisement for the University of Adelaide. It is an advertisement for the South Australian government organisation, Renewal SA, from six years ago which was unfortunately placed next to one of our advertisements about the university,” a spokesperson told FEMAIL.
‘At the time, a cropped image circulated on the internet that misrepresented both the actual advertisements and the values of the University of Adelaide.
‘The image in the advert was not approved or provided by the University of Adelaide, and none of the people depicted in the image are staff or students.’
The post quickly resurfaced and captured the attention of more than 247,000 people.
Both men and women were amused by the ad and focused on the joke, while others took it more seriously.
“Every woman in this photo is saying ‘I’m pretty sure I just said that,'” one wrote.
“It’s amazing how unimpressed everyone seems,” said another.
One man joked: “Just to be clear: mansplaining is when a man explains something.”
At the time, the university distanced itself from the ad, saying it actually belongs to Renewal SA posters outside the former Royal Adelaide Hospital.
But the joke did not sit well with some who felt “offended” by the comments.
“Just because a man is explaining something to a group of women doesn’t mean he should be condescending, overconfident, or patronising, or assume they might not be knowledgeable about the topic. Yes, it’s a joke, but it’s not funny because it discriminates against men,” wrote one.
‘The meme implies that the image must represent a masculine explanation, which is not true.’
Another added: “God forbid men explain things.”
One woman wrote: “You may think it’s harmful to label this as ‘mansplaining,’ but I think it’s harmful to continue having ads that show five women looking inferior to one white man.”
Others joined the thread to defend the university.
“The University of Adelaide was unfortunate enough to have an advert next to it. The photo was deliberately cropped to make it look like it was from the University, but from another angle it was clear it wasn’t. I’m all for calling out the outdated male explanation of this advert, but please don’t tarnish the University in the wrong way,” wrote one woman.
“Their marketing is also very focused on women, which makes this fake news even more upsetting to them. I was looking forward to seeing it on the internet tonight. And no one who sees this post will know the truth,” she added.