Rosie the Riveter is an iconic symbol for the shared efforts of both American men and women during our World War II efforts overseas. Her image was used to rally and inspire women to step out of the household and work for the greater good of their country. Apparently, the household cleaning company Swiffer believes that Rosie the Riveter had it all wrong. 

In a recent Swiffer ad campaign, a woman dressed up as Rosie holds one of their Swiffer brooms. The message is unfortunately all too clear. By using the likeness of Rosie, Swiffer is stating that a woman's greatest utility to her nation is to pick up a Swiffer broom and get to cleaning.

"Swiffer tells women 'We can do it!' 'It' in this case being housework," tweeted the Women's Fund of New Hampshire. "We're super unimpressed."

The Women's Fund of New Hampshire aren't the only ones taking issue with the ad. The image has quickly gone viral on the internet, and many people are chiming in to speak out against what they consider to be a highly sexist marketing strategy. 

"If you can't see why it's offensive, or at least incredibly ignorant, to use her likeness to market a FANCY BROOM, then you're not looking," commented Raina Douris at Buzzfeed. "The whole point is that Rosie symbolizes women's DEPARTURE from being solely responsible for homemaking. This ad is backwards."

The folks at Swiffer are now backtracking fom their ad and have since done their best to take down the image wherever it was put up. Though such an effort would seem to be mandatory given the situation, it's also quite clear that Swiffer is only doing so placate their consumer base, and ideologically, the ad campaign aligns with the company's values.

It's easy to see the thought process behind the ad. Executives at the company probably thought that they wanted appeal to their customer base by 'empowering' women and placing the image of a strong female in their ad. The only problem is, that ad goes completely against the whole point of Rosie the Riveter, and therefore is quite demeaning.

"We are aware of the concerns regarding an image in a Swiffer ad. Our core purpose is to make cleaning easier for all consumers, regardless of who is behind the handle of our products. It was not our intention to offend any group with the image, and we are working to make changes to where it is used as quickly as possible," said a Swiffer spokesperson. Riveting.