What has happened to the Australians? Their refusal to take themselves seriously used to be one of their most attractive features.

However, some of them have taken to whinging like a bunch of poms at a footy match over airlines using pretty girls in their adverts

Well, what can you expect from a country capable of putting a Welsh Sheila in charge?*

Now we are all in favour of equal rights for women – especially women entrepreneurs, who are increasing in number, wealth, and influence – but there are certain facts about human nature that everyone in business should know if they want to remain in business.

Irrespective of whether you share them or agree with them, when it comes to marketing only a fool will ignore them and the wise will exploit them. Leave your prejudices at the door and profit from the prejudices of others.

1   Men and women are different. The debate about equality does not alter biology. In particular, as every marketing expert knows, men and women buy different things and for different reasons.

2   Customers, male and female, are more likely to buy from businesses where they find the staff attractive. Everyone prefers beautiful people to ugly people – ugly people more than most – and this has a tangible effect on their purchasing decisions.

3   Men find women attractive and – presumably – women find men attractive. To be honest, the contributors to this blog have not found as much evidence for the second of those two propositions as we would like, but, in accordance with our strict principles of sexual equality, we take this opportunity of making it clear that we have no moral objection to women finding us as attractive as we find them.

4   It is therefore nonsense to complain about women being viewed as “sex objects”. Of course men and women view each other, at least on their first assessment, as potential sex objects – the human race would not exist if they did not! Whether an individual can be more than a sex object is down to that individual’s personality. It is those who do not project much in the way of personality who then complain about being “objectified”.

5   Similarly, the words “sexist” and “sexism” are essentially meaningless. This is not to say men and women do not treat each other differently. Obviously, we all do, always have, and always will, because we are different.  

6   Despite years of propaganda and “positive imaging” in media frightened by shrill lobby groups, instincts and inner feelings have not changed. They will not. They cannot.

7   None of this excuses rudeness or discrimination in the workplace. Sexual harassment is wrong not because it is “sexist” but because it in simply unpleasant.

* Before we are accused of being racist as well as chauvinist, we are not only Welsh but have to admit that some Brits can be as bad as the Aussies.

Anyway, we are very fond of the Russians.