Furious LinkedIn users have called for a self-proclaimed marketing expert to be kicked off the platform after comparing a woman’s breast size to her level of confidence in business.
James Langridge, who describes himself as a ‘business storytelling expert’, posted a picture of curvy British actress Hayley Atwell sitting on a desk and wrote: ‘Let’s talk boobs for a sec…’
The 212-word spiel outlines his theory that ‘the larger they are, the more they tend to be covered up’, whereas they tend to be ‘on show’ if they are smaller.
‘But it’s got me thinking, the more confidence we have in whatever we’re presenting (boobs or otherwise) the less we tend to shout about it,’ he writes.
He added alongside two balloon emojis and a smiley face: ‘We might even try to hide our natural “gifts”.’
The bizarre analogy goes on to say ‘there are a lot of people in marketing working with A cup ideas and using verbal pushup bras to attract eyeballs’ but ‘there are a quiet minority in turtle necks and big coats packing FF concepts and offers’.
Mr Langridge urges people to ‘show off a little more’ to ‘make marketing classy again’ and then asks people to ‘reach out’ to him if ‘you might be hiding your assets like I did’.
The post provoked a furious backlash with more than 3,000 comments since it was published 24 hours ago.
One businesswoman wrote on LinkedIn: ‘It’s only Monday and we’ve unearthered a caveman that does not belong in this millennium, let alone on LinkedIn.’
One person labelled it sexist while another asked: ‘Am I on LinkedIn or an Incel Subreddit?’
Another described it as a ‘terrible post’ and thanked ‘the large number of men here for speaking up’.
In a comment directed at Mr Langridge, a business coach said: ‘James, women have been objectified and sexualised so routinely that men seem to think this kind of a conversation is okay to have.
‘Imagine a post on LinkedIn that talked about men’s that stay hidden have more value; would that have been acceptable here? Why then would a post about women’s body parts?
‘Also, did you notice that this post of yours is screaming & shouting, “Look at me!”. Does that mean, going by your argument, that your work may not be as valuable as that of the quieter ones?’
There were calls for LinkedIn to remove the post while others simply urged for him to ‘get out of my feed’.
Mr Langridge, who according to his LinkedIn profile was a former ski rep for TUI, boasts on his website of ‘turning complex business ideas into powerful stories that win customers.
He later wrote on his Facebook page in reference to his LinkedIn post: ‘Think you have the balls to say whatever you think? Check out the comments on my LinkedIn post and come back to me…’
has contacted Mr Langridge, LinkedIn, and Atwell’s representatives for comment.