Domestic Advertisers Place Women in an Era When They Had Neither the Right to Vote Nor the Right to Work

Sometimes it seems that some domestic advertisers have not received the memo that we live in 2023. According to them, women are still just housewives, and as the infamous Westgate poster suggests, they secretly iron their husbands’ cards because they have no income of their own. Some manufacturers of household appliances and cleaning products decided to celebrate the female part of the audience with brooms, detergents, sponges… during March, the month dedicated to women. Social media, which is diligently reported by the Facebook page ‘Everyday Sexism’, was ablaze with generous discounts on cleaning products because women deserved it, and the media informed in their native sections that mothers would surely be thrilled with smart vacuum cleaners like Roomba, which comes in a new, improved version (fathers, presumably, are indifferent to Roomba).

Yes, there are women who clean, and yes, there are women who will be sexually aroused (blessed are they!) by the sight of their husband washing dishes, as Aunt Violeta suggests in the new advertisement for Vio detergent, but such portrayals of women have outgrown even the ‘Mad Men’ of the 1960s. Even if women are the biggest buyers of such products and/or do indeed iron their husband’s cards, this stuffing of women next to the stove and sink, the idea that a new series of brooms or a detergent with enhanced effectiveness brings immeasurable joy and happiness is not only offensive to some women but, in a creative sense, completely passé, first-rate. People, it is 2023! Domestic advertisers who place women in an era when they had neither the right to vote nor the right to work can only be comforted by the fact that the situation is no better in the ‘white world’. Indeed, it may only comfort advertisers, and women as much as the recently calmed flood-affected population by Plenković’s statement that the floods in Italy are even worse.

Empty Promises

Recently, the marketing magazine The Drum reflected on a global study by CreativeX which showed that the stereotyping of women in advertisements is increasing or, better said, worsening. These results surprised part of the audience as major global advertisers committed to ending prejudices and cleaning marketing communication of stereotypes. This initiative was launched in 2016 by the world’s largest advertiser Unilever, officially announcing that it would focus on the aspirations and achievements of women in marketing communication, rather than linking their role to responsibilities or the use of products. This pledge led to a partnership with the United Nations, with which it launched the Unstereotype Alliance, aimed at inspiring greater, stronger change in the marketing industry and society. Although brands like Google, Mars, Facebook, Microsoft, and WPP have also promised to end stereotypes about women, the aforementioned research covering digital advertisements showed that things are going in a completely wrong direction. The good news, emphasizes The Drum, which analyzed the results, is that women appear more frequently in advertisements.

Disheartening Research

In the last two years, there have been 34 percent more women than men in marketing communication. Unfortunately, that is where the achievements end. CreativeX, a research company whose clients include major brands like Nestlé and Mondelez, analyzed ten thousand ads published last year, using AI technology. The analyzed ads were published by the largest brands in the health, food, beverage, alcohol, and FMCG industries; they were worth a total of 110 million dollars and were published on Meta, YouTube, Snapchat, Twitter, and TikTok. To begin with, they concluded that the number of ads placing women in household and family settings has doubled (66 percent in 2022, 32 percent in 2021). The number of women, or ads in which women are placed in a professional setting, decreased from 16 percent in 2021 to only seven percent in 2022.

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The situation is even worse when analyzing the racial background of women in advertisements. There are even 80 percent more white women than women of color, and they are 58 percent less in an already scarce professional environment. As Aline Santos, head of branding at Unilever, stated for The Drum, the research results are saddening but not surprising. This is justified by research published by the UN, ‘Gender Equality Attitudes’, which showed that during the pandemic, as well as in the ‘new normal’, the time women spend on cleaning (50 percent of women, 37 percent of men), cooking, and serving meals (37 percent of women, 16 percent of men) has increased.

The Role of Advertisers

Although women spend more free time on household chores, this does not mean that the advertising industry must respond by reverting to the good old stereotypes. Or, as Santos pointed out, the industry must not accept this regression as something normal, nor should it be visible in the content it produces.

– We must ensure that our creative thinking and, more importantly, our values, beliefs, and determination to make the industry equitable and inclusive remain unshaken – Santos noted to The Drum reporters.

Therefore, this post-pandemic return of women to the stove and sink should not be taken literally, nor should we revert a few decades back in the way they are portrayed in advertisements. Or, simplified, the fact that women wash dishes more often does not mean they will be excited if their husband does it instead of them or that a new series of vacuum cleaners will be the hit of the month. Women, regardless of how much they wash, cook, or iron (cards or clothes), have, as Unilever beautifully noted in 2016, aspirations and needs that transcend the role assigned to them by men in ancient times. And imagine, they even respond better to advertisements that consider them as human beings and do not play on the card of chewed stereotypes.

Beyond Stereotypes

The Drum reports that a study by the Geena Davis Institute showed that among 2.7 million ads on YouTube, as much as 30 percent are more viewed when women play the lead role and are, as it is said, gender-balanced. Ipsos concluded that ads in which women are portrayed in strong roles (beyond stereotypes) positively affect the long-term relationship of consumers with the brand, as well as short-term purchasing decisions.

Santos argues that advertisers must not only avoid ‘regressing’ but must also go a step further, and besides eliminating stereotypes (regardless of the industry), they need to promote inclusivity at all levels. Advertisers, both global and domestic, who have failed the test of portraying women in advertisements forget that in these new, modern times of social platforms, consumers, regardless of age or gender, are more exposed to advertising content than ever. In this sense, advertisers are the ones who participate in creating the world or, in this case, teach young girls their position in society or young boys how to relate to women. And so, dear advertisers, do you think your daughters belong only next to the sink? I highly doubt it.