I think one of the reasons these kinds of ads are produced is the outsourcing of pr. When a company is called out for having this kind of ad, they seem to take

I think one of the reasons these kinds of ads are produced is the outsourcing of pr. When a company is called out for having this kind of ad, they seem to take partial responsibility: "Yeah, well, it's not the best ad, but we didn't really make the ad..." It's comparable to outsourcing code. If you outsource your coding work and get shoddy code, it represents your company. If you outsource your pr and you get sexist ads, it represents your company.