A video produced to encourage more young women to pursue careers in science has gone viral for all the wrong reasons after it was slammed online as sexist and demeaning.
The clip, published by the European Commission, stars three giggling models wearing sexy miniskirts and high heels.
It describes science as a "girl thing", and combines pictures of beakers and words like "hydrogen" with a pink background, lipstick-style logo and techno music for the soundtrack.
While the campaign's other films have drawn praise for featuring interesting and intelligent women discussing their scientific careers, viewers were quick to criticise the latest clip for perpetuating female stereotypes.
Dr Petra Boynton, a social psychologist at University College London, wrote on Twitter: "For the love of all things holy what is this ****?
"The whole 'we need more women in science' argument needs a critical lens, but this nonsense is really not helping."
Lisa-Marie Mayne, a postgraduate student, added: "As a woman of science and working in a lab where women outnumber men I find this garish, insulting and incredibly demeaning."
The video, which was uploaded to You Tube on Friday, has so far attracted close to 2000 "dislikes" and just 50 "likes".
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