Restaurant in Islamabad comes under fire for sexist ads

Table No 5 says if women can compare men to dogs, they can be compared to a sandwich; a defense worthy of a slow clap

Let’s face it, the expression “a woman’s place is in the kitchen” is not only an outright offense to women but also an insult to the intelligence of mankind.

It’s 2015 after all, but a restaurant in Islamabad may have missed the memo. Table No 5 has recently come under fire due to its sexist marketing strategy.



“If she won’t make you a sandwich, we will” and “I don’t hate women, they just refuse to make me a sandwich,” are some of the catch lines the restaurant is using, which have irked many social media users as well as some feminist and non-profit organisations.

The restaurant even made a chart comparing women to a sandwich and concluded, “Choose happiness, choose a sandwich.”

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Girls at Dhabas, a site which now has presence on Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and seeks to create public space for women, has criticised the restaurant’s marketing, saying, “What Table No 5 thinks is a quick and smart strategy to get attention by gas lighting women and feminists is deeply problematic… humour at the expense of an identity that is historically subjugated, is not humour - it is another form of oppression.”

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Non-profit organistaion Payaam Trust also criticised the restaurant’s advertisements.

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While some cracked jokes and laughed it off, many Facebook users reacted seriously to the advertisements, vowing to boycott the restaurant altogether.

PHOTO: FACEBOOK

However, the restaurant seems to have taken the criticism in its stride by “thanking ladies” instead of apologising.

“A lot of people have been calling us misogynists over the past few days. I guess we started off on the wrong foot. We don't have anything against the ladies; in fact we're grateful to them. It's because they stopped making sandwiches that we got the opportunity to open up a sandwich joint in town. So, thanks ladies!” the restaurant wrote in a Facebook post.

But it got worse, as they went on to defend themselves, saying, “Ladies can compare men with dogs anytime they like but we can't compare a lady to a sandwich? PS check out the comments section if you want to experience the height of overreaction.”

An argument worthy of a slow clap.