TIme to kick sexism out of advertising

During the World Cup fever, the guardian.co.uk has been bombarded with sexist advertisement. One of the ads was from ‘WKD funny football ads’. Yet before we resume “advertising as normal” on our screens and in our street, it’s worth pausing to consider a trend within the industry that World Cup-related ad campaigns have thrown into stark relief: the deliberate and widespread use of sexist material in the name of selling a product. Many ads across the country have a sexist and offensive tone or content. It’s nothing particularly new about advertising that plays on gender stereotypes.

source: Sexist world cup advertising in Lebanon

Take this advertisement for example, the sexist Lebanese advertisements that accompanied all the excitement. Not only do such ads believe the reality that women are actively involved in football (both as players and fans) in greater number than at any time in history. They also deliberately encourage insulting notions of women as stupid, incapable of understanding basic concepts and de factor having no part in the word’s biggest sporting event simply because of their sex (Perera, 2010). Contrary to popular belief, women do, in fact, understand football as well as all the accompanying rules (Daisy, 2010).

The Advertising Standard Authority (ASA) acts as the independent regulator of the advertising industry in the UK. Under the current rules applied by the ASA, there is a particular requirement for ads to avoid causing offence on the grounds of sex. ASA tends to respond to complaints that an ad is sexist and derogatory towards using the term “decency”, “privacy” and “serious offence” without reference to this sex-specific requirement (Perera, 2010).

It’s stated that in the advertising code of ethics, advertising shall not portray people or depict material in a way that discriminates against or vilifies a person or section of the community on account of race, ethnicity, nationality, sex, age, sexual preference, religion, disability or political belief.

Research indicated that advertising in these media has rendered distorted body image ideals as valid and acceptable, contributing to gender inequality and the promotion of “sexism”. Sexism refers to the portrayal of women in an inferior way relative to their capabilities and potential, and is manifested in the depiction of women in clichéd traditional and decorative roles in advertising. (Lysonski, 1985; Pollay,1986).

The advertising industry would better adopt a new paradigm encompassing an improved representation of women in advertising and reflecting their egalitarian roles in the society internationally.

Reference:

Advertising Standard Authority. 2009. ‘Regulation explained’ [Online]

http://www.asa.org.uk/

Guardian News and Media Limited. 2010. ‘Time to kick sexism out of advertising’ [Online]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jun/29/kick-sexism-out-of-advertising

Daisy. 2010, ‘Sexist World Cup Ads In Lebanon’ [Blog]

http://moudz.blogspot.com/2010/07/lebanons-most-sexist-world-cup-ads.html

Plakoyiannaki, E.2008. ‘Images of Women in Online Advertisement of Global Products: Does Sexism Exist?’ Vol. 83 Issue 1, p101-112, 12p, 4 Charts

Dahl, E.2007.‘ The original Sexist Sin: A reply to Neil Levy’ Vol.100 Issue 1, p110-111, 2p.