Confectionary giant Nestle is under fire in Britain over chocolate bar adverts suggesting football (soccer) is "not for girls".
The company is promoting a bar called Footie with wrapper slogans including: "It's definitely not for girls", "no passes to lasses" and "no wenches on the benches".
Wrappers also contain an image of a woman holding a handbag framed in a no-entry road sign.
The Women's Sports Foundation said such advertising undermined attempts to encourage girls to play more sport and improve fitness levels in teenage girls.
"We'd rather not see this kind of advertising," she said.
"Research shows that 40 per cent of girls have dropped out of sport by the time they reach 18. It's a serious problem with implications for health and fitness.
"There are all sorts of cultural barriers to women getting involved in sport. A campaign like this adds to the problem."
Privately, staff at the Equal Opportunities Commission said they were disturbed by the messages on Footie bar wrappers.
A spokeswoman said she could make no official comment because confectionery advertising was not within the organisation's remit.
The UK's Advertising Standards Authority said it had no powers to adjudicate on the wording of confectionery wrappers.
Nestle said the Footie bar was a version of the Yorkie bar and the slogans were "meant to be humorous".
"The Yorkie 'Wenches on the Benches' pack is meant to be tongue-in-cheek and humorous and we apologise if (anyone) has taken offence," said a Nestle spokeswoman.
"The 'Wenches on the Benches' Yorkie pack is part of the wider 'Not For Girls' Yorkie campaign.
"The spirit of this is to reclaim chocolate for men, based on the consumer insight that there are not many things that men can look at and say that it's just for him.
"This is especially true for the chocolate confectionery market, which is full of female-targeted brands.
"Yorkie was launched 26 years ago as the chocolate for men and used a very popular 'Trucker' campaign.
"We are building on this strong male heritage using a light-hearted and fun way of talking about the differences between men and women."
News.com.au