Watercare backtracks on ‘sexist’ social media hot shower post after major backlash

Watercare has backtracked and removed an inflammatory and “sexist” social media post that urged women to have shorter showers.

The post, shared to all of Watercare’s social media platforms on Tuesday afternoon, claimed 27 per cent of women’s power bills are used to heat water.

“Ladies, we’re all for showering in a firey [sic] inferno, but 27% of your power bill is used to heat water. So, let’s keep it snappy to keep your wallet happy! 1 shower, 4 minutes – it’s all you need,” the post was captioned alongside a meme of Baby Yoda and a fire from the Star Wars film franchise The Mandalorian.

The controversial posts have since been taken down by Watercare.

Watercare’s head of communications Rachel Hughes said the post was part of Watercare’s “Make Every Drop Count” campaign, which strives to encourage all of its customers to save water.

“Yesterday’s post drew inspiration from a social media trend suggesting that women prefer hotter showers than men,” Hughes said.

“To leverage off this trend, we reshared a meme, highlighting the potential cost savings by keeping showers short.

The company shared a tweet to social media, saying “we didn’t just miss the mark with that post, we were miles off”, along with the photo of an olive branch.

We often get things right, but sometimes we get it wrong. Yesterday's post encouraging women to keep their showers short hit the wrong note and caused offence. We didn't just miss the mark with that post, we were miles off. We're sorry and we'll aim to do better than yesterday. pic.twitter.com/V4EXimirOW

— Watercare (@watercare_nz) January 16, 2024

Hughes acknowledged the offence the post caused and has since removed the posts this morning.

“We regret any hurt and offence caused and offer our sincere apologies,” Hughes said.

On X (formerly Twitter), the poster garnered 106 comments and reached over 59,000 people before it was removed.

“Are women the only ones to have hot showers?” one commenter said.

“Delete this, now. Good lord, it’s 2024,” another added.

Another social media user said: “Oh my god. Who on your social media post approved this.”

Auckland councillor Richard Hills also took to X to voice his objections to the post, listing a number of points wrong with it calling it “sexist”, making no sense and “not part of the water conservation strategy I asked Watercare to show me”.

“Deleting is probs a good idea,” he wrote.

1. This is sexist.
2. This makes zero sense.
3. This was not part of the water conservation strategy I asked Watercare to show me.
4. I usually love your work @watercare_nz but this is not it.
5. Deleting is probs a good idea. https://t.co/U4qIL6eujD

— Richard Hills (@RichardHills_) January 16, 2024

Hughes said Watercare occasionally targeted particular audiences with its social media content to ensure it resonates with them.

“Men will not be exempt from our short-shower messaging,” she said.

Rachel Maher is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. She has worked for the Herald since 2022.