Distracted boyfriend announcement

A Swedish Internet company has violated the rules of sex discrimination by using a popular meme in an advertisement, said the country's advertising regulator.

Bahnhof has released a version of the same "distracted boyfriend" on Facebook, to announce the vacancies.

The picture, which shows a man looking at a woman in a red dress while his girlfriend is watching in horror, has been largely parodied online.

But the regulator said the picture was discriminatory for both men and women.

The Bahnhof version of the same watch:

• "you", the distracted boyfriend
• "Bahnhof", the woman in red dress
• "your current employer", the girlfriend who watches with horror

The regulator, Reklamombudsmannen, said that the image objectified women by showing the "reaction of appreciation" of the man.

He was also "sexually discriminatory" towards men by "giving a stereotyped image of men who considered women interchangeable".

The regulator told the BBC that the decision should be taken as an opinion on a good advertising ethic.

Bahnhof will not have to delete the image and will not be fined.

In a statement, Bahnhof said: "Anyone who supports both the Internet and the same culture knows exactly how it is used and interpreted.

"We explained both the purpose of the picture and the same culture for the regulator, but they chose to interpret the publication in a different way."

The decision was widely ridiculed online by people who suggested that the regulator had not correctly interpreted the picture.