Trustco ad backfires

A Trustco Group Holdings recruitment advert that attracted widespread public criticism, including from Namibia's first lady, for being offensive, dehumanising, unconstitutional and perpetuating harmful stereotypes, was deleted by Facebook late on Tuesday. The company did not elaborate yesterday in a press statement whether the ad was pulled for copyright infringements or for violating community standards. Yesterday Quinton van Rooyen, chief at Trustco, described the ad as their most successful to date.The Facebook deletion followed widespread calls locally and internationally for the advert to be retracted, a public apology to be issued and gender awareness and sensitivity training to be implemented for staff and management. A petition, 'NO to Trustco's SEXISM', demanded that “Trustco high-level management receives transformative gender training”.The recycled advert posted on Tuesday showcased global trans icon Caitlyn Jenner along with the statement “Some will do anything to get a seat”, plus the term “broadmember”. The advert was based on a similar advert Trustco posted in 2015.Phrases such as “because women just look better in board pictures”, “in the interest of equality” and “women just look better in boards anyways”, drew particular scorn. The advertisement featured an Annie Leibowitz photograph taken for Vanity Fair magazine.Many warned this week that the ad would likely further entrench sexist and transphobic stereotyping and could undermine efforts to address discrimination against women and the trans-community. “Transgender women are women.Suggesting a woman would transition for opportunities fails to shine a light on the violence and suffering of the transgender community,” a petitioner wrote. Wings To Transcend-Namibia (WTTN), a non-governmental organisation advocating for equality and the inclusion of transgender people in Namibia, said the ad was geared to “incite stigma and discrimination towards us with total disregard of how this will affect our interaction with society”. Another commentator pointed out that “the trans-community has a suicide rate 36% higher than the rest of the population.” Director of gender at Lifeline/Childline, James Itana, described the advert as “discriminatory towards women as per our constitution, the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, the SADC protocol on gender and development, the national gender policy, to mention but a few”.One commentator warned that “given our historic context and the prevailing gender disparities in Namibia, such repugnant, sexist, misogynistic and transphobic sentiments have no place in our society”.One petitioner described the advert as “the most violently disrespectful advert I've ever seen in Namibia. The overt sexism and transphobia is staggering. It's so disgusting. Shame on you Trustco”.Petitions, publications and public outrageVan Rooyen publicly praised the advert on the company's Facebook page, writing: “Brilliant add Team Trustco (sic).” His public praise for the advert drew sharp fire on Tuesday, including from Monica Geingos, Namibia's first lady. “This is wrong on many levels and quite frankly, unacceptable. What scares me more than the crass and casual disrespect, the overt sexism, the transphobia and innuendos … is @qvr_ calling it 'brilliant'. Don't trivialise how this ad makes people feel,” she tweeted.Entrepreneur Ally Angula, described the advert as “sexist and in horrible taste! Disgusted”.South African columnist for Business Day, Stuart Theobald, tweeted that “companies can be tone deaf about sensitive social issues. But this endorsement of overt sexism in the boardroom, not to mention transphobia, by JSE-listed Trustco is beyond the pale.” On Tuesday, a neighbouring publication, The South African, published a story on the backlash, noting “we've seen some calamitous public relations own goals in our time, but this one from Namibia doesn't just take the cake - it insists a woman makes one for it”.The article described the Trustco ad as “an incredibly crass job advertisement. Yet the company seems blissfully self-unaware about the insensitivity of their post”.Yesterday, after the ad was pulled by Facebook, Van Rooyen told Namibian Sun he viewed the advert as a “perfect fit for the purpose it was created. And it was very successful - the most successful advertisement we have ever had”.In response to whether the criticism against the advert had merit, he said no. He claimed the advert attracted an equal amount of critical and positive comments.In a press statement, the company yesterday stated it had received a “record number of applications” in response to the vacancy advert.The statement further noted that Trustco appreciates and respects the “different opinions on the invitation to apply as a member of our board”.JANA-MARI SMITH

Trustco ad backfires

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-01

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Trustco ad backfires

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-01

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