Women are incredulous over IBM's advert that encourages female technologists to 'hack a hair dryer' (IBM)

IBM is trying to encourage women to get into technology by asking them to “hack a hairdryer” – and female scientists and engineers are not happy.

The campaign appears to date back to October and calls on women in science and technology to “reengineer what matters in science”.

A video posted on IBM’s YouTube account shows a number of experients involving hairdryers as a voiceover encourages women to take part:

"You, a windblaster and an idea, repurposed for a larger purpose, to support those who believe that it’s not what covers your cranium that counts, but what’s in it. So hack heat, re-reoute airflow, reinvent sound, and imagine a future where the most brilliant minds are solving the world’s biggest problems regardless of your gender."

While seemingly well-intentioned, the campaign has backfired after IBM sent some tweets re-advertising it on Friday 4 December. Women working in technology have shown their disapproval for #HackAHairDryer by tweeting what they actually do in their day-to-day working lives:

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/673741496005165056
That's ok @IBM, I'd rather build satellites instead, but good luck with that whole #HackAHairDryer thing. https://t.co/n3vp0grbEP

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/673725596908687360
I leave hairdryer fixing to the men, I'm too busy making nanotech and treating cancer. https://t.co/fX7tDPsJXr

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/673739282633252864
Hey @IBM - Margaret Hamilton was too busy writing code to get us to the moon to f*ck w/ a hairdryer. #HackAHairDryer pic.twitter.com/MCaA7Gh4iV

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/673732291059847168
Sorry @ibm, won't be helping you #HackAHairDryer. Too busy milking spiders to find novel therapeutics. https://t.co/cP4mWbeRQc

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/673737748818202624
@IBM shame I don't use a hairdryer. I guess that's the end of my career in STEM. Brb quitting my astrophysics PhD. #HackAHairDryer

Others pointed out that the campaign misses the mark somewhat:

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/673728038744530944
@IBM no one is asking male scientists to hack beard trimmers. #womenintech #womeninSTEM

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/673739187556773889
And since when did @IBM start making hair dryers? Why don't they ask women hackers to break into their server instead? #HackAHairDryer

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/673616483155480576
It's clear there are great intentions in the #HackAHairDryer campaign... but I have serious qualms about both the message and the project.

Then there were those who found a video of a hairdryer on fire to add to the mix:

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/673746265944031232
IBM's current status #HackAHairDryer pic.twitter.com/uOUI8KvAXa

IBM did not reply to a request for comment.

This is not the first campaign attempting to get women into tech which has backfired this year. EDF was criticised in October for a campaign named “Pretty Curious”.

This article originally appeared on guardian.co.uk

This article was written by Elena Cresci from The Guardian and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.

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