'A serious misstep': How on earth did this AI billboard ad get approved?

Print ads for AI companies often court controversy, usually because of their implicit (or sometimes explicit) suggestion that their tools can replace humans for certain tasks. But here's an example that manages to make that suggestion in perhaps the least tactful way possible.

An ad for Narwhal Labs, an AI company with millions of pounds of investment, has received several complaints after appearing in Bristol Airport, to the point that the airport was forced to take it down. One of the best print ads of all time, this ain't.

“She outworks everyone. And she’ll never ask for a raise," reads the ad. “Meet your new AI employee. Always on, never sick and no HR required.” Next to the tagline is an illustration of said employee, who appears to be half-woman, half robot. The ad is promoting Narwhal Labs' DeepBlue OS agentic AI, which conducts communications across voice, SMS, email and WhatsApp.

To make matters worse, while the female version of the ad targets women taking time off work, the male version simply reads, "Hello, is it leads your looking for? He'll find them, call them and follow up. While you sleep". Taken together, it's almost as if the two ads are suggesting taking time off work is a female problem, huh?

According to The Guardian, the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) received several complaints accusing the ad of misogyny. “This advert is misogyny with a marketing budget, a textbook case of sexist labour stereotypes dressed up as ‘innovation’ It pushes the toxic idea that the ideal worker is a woman who is endlessly available, compliant, unpaid and without needs. It exposes how deeply sexism is baked into our workplaces and now into our technology.", says Rebecca Horne, head of communications and campaigns at Pregnant Then Screwed, which campaigns to protect women from "systems that hold mothers back".

Comments under Narwhal Labs' own LinkedIn post promoting the ads are equally bemused. "Who passed this as a relevant campaign in 2026? Really interested to hear what conversations have been had internally since its launch," one asks, while another adds, "This campaign is a serious misstep on so many levels."

Anti-AI campaign group Pull The Plug created their own versions of the ads (above), with satirical taglines including, "Want to talk to a human at work? That's so 2022".

“We understand the strength of feeling our campaign has generated," Narwhal Labs announced in a statement. It was never our intention for the billboards to be perceived as misogynistic or racist, and we take that concern seriously. Our billboards depict people from a wide range of demographics. Different genders, backgrounds, and identities … this was never about one group losing out to another. This is something far broader: humans versus machines. The impact will not be selective. It will not discriminate. And the debate it has sparked is exactly the one we need."