Curbing stereotypes in advertising
All over the world, stereotypes are real. Sex and sexuality has become the centre of most advertisements – from ads of toothpaste brands to ads of cars and furniture.
The perfect car advert shows a beautiful but scantily-dressed lady standing by a posh car. An alcoholic beverage ad shows a tall, dark and handsome man showing off his perfect beach body sipping from a glass. Ads for food seasoning or condiments typically depict women slaving away in the kitchen trying to preparing meals for the family, while most dairy or chocolate drink brands show children having a filled day playing out in the fields or coming back home leaving behind a track of their mess.
There is also the matter of generational stereotypes where people of certain generations are linked with certain behaviours. For instance, upwardly mobile individuals are believed to be fun-loving, tech savvy, stylish, successful and good at working hard whilst playing hard hence in commercials, they are shown transiting from a very busy day at the office to the night-club where they are seen dancing the night away.
In June this year, FMCG giant, Unilever began the new global campaign during the Cannes awards against gender stereotyping in advertising by leading the conversation #unstereotype.
Research carried out by the company indicated that only three percent of advertising, portray women as clever; however, 40 percent of women who watch TV, say they do not identify at all with the women they see in adverts.
In one combined analysis of more than 60 studies, researchers looked for patterns of gender portrayals over many advertisements. Overall, they found reliable evidence the women are portrayed differently from men in ways that conform to traditional gender roles and stereotypes. They discovered that women were four times more likely than men to not have a speaking role, three times more likely than men to be presented as a product user rather than an authority, 3.5 times more likely than men to be presented at home or in a domestic environment and two times more likely than men to be associated with domestic products like body care and home goods.
In cultural psychology, when it comes to gender stereotypes in popular media, psychologists have looked at the “masculinity” or “femininity” of the cultures themselves. According classic measurements, ‘masculine’ cultures are those that emphasize achievement, assertiveness and material rewards. ‘Feminine’ cultures are instead those that emphasize cooperation, modesty and caring for the weak.
Unilever global CMO Keith Weed agreed that half of the adverts depict women in a stereotypical manner.
“The campaign we are starting now is about un-stereotyping. This is becoming a really important issue for creatives and planners to understand. We have enough evidence that un-stereotyping is not just good for society but good for business,” said Unilever global marketing EVP Aline Santos.
The company plans to advance portrayals of gender in its ads by focusing on three areas; role, personality and appearance.
In this regard, Unilever has created 10 questions that everyone in the company must read before issuing a brief. “Any agency has to read them when they are thinking about producing assets. That is the starting point we are using with #unstereotype,” said Santos.
“Our industry spends billions of dollars annually shaping perceptions and we have a responsibility to use this power in a positive manner,” said Weed. “At Unilever we are at the start of a journey, and we are passionate about challenging the stereotypes that are pervasive.”
Expatiating on the issue in August during the Loeries Creative Week held in Durban, Debra Marlowe of Unilever urged practitioners to let go of stereotypes. “When you look at gender stereotypes in communication and advertising, what it does is that it holds people back and is not great for brands. We need to do away with the unhealthy stereotypes we put forward in our advertising and begin to portray a more progressive female.”
In an article by Lahle Wolfe titled ‘The Psychology of Buyers: Customers Have Needs and Feelings’; it is said that consumers have to be treated like individuals instead of bunching them into mass impersonal groups based on stereotypes. “For example, do not assume that all retirees are interested in gardening, all women are interested in buying shoes or all men are sports-crazy. These are examples of stereotyping groups of people that can lead to disastrous results in advertising and marketing.”
Bringing the discussion closer, many dairy brands in Nigeria target only kids to drink milk hence lose access to millions of other customers. It is a known fact now that more adults consume milk. The current Pecadomo campaign by Peak Milk shows ways Peak Milk can be used beyond enhancing tea, coffee and pap. This is an attestation of the fact that milk isn’t just for children as men and women might use it in different ways including as a cooking ingredient or for mixing various drinks like Malt drinks, spirits or smoothies for unique flavours.
According to Managing Director of Lagos-based ad agency, Noah’s Ark, Mr. Lanre Adisa, stereotyping especially gender stereotyping is cheap and wouldn’t grow any brand. “The roles of women have changed from back in the days when they were mainly housewives. They are breadwinners in their rights as well. For any communication to be effective, we need to respect the role of the women and put it in proper perspectives – not as window dressing or some kind of sex object.”
Unfortunately, stereotyping is so intense that myths about the different gender or generations often pass for facts. Young, pretty women are viewed as sex symbols with no brains; brides-to-be are perceived as bridezillas; older women as monsters-in-law; housemaids as husband snatchers and secretaries as mistresses – the list goes on.
According to Marlowe, this mentality can distance consumers from a brand.
Nevertheless, stereotyping might not be all that bad as generational stereotyping has been a useful tool for addressing major trends in consumerism such as the belief that an upwardly mobile woman would definitely own a smart phone, or that an undergraduate in the higher institution would love surfing the net and engaging in social media activities. Logically, the former would be wooed by the ad of a new smart phone and the latter, wooed by pocket-friendly internet data plans.
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