Posts Tagged sexism in advertising

By Maya Dusenbery • 9 years ago

Australian camping company trolling with misogynistic slogans

Wicked Campervans–an Australian budget travel company/professional trolling company (source: Explore this rock)–is under fire for the charming slogans scrawled on their fleet of vans. The slogans, which don’t really qualify as advertising since they have exactly nothing to do with camping, hardly qualify as jokes either.

Wicked Campervans–an Australian budget travel company/professional trolling company (source: Explore this rock)–is under fire for the charming slogans scrawled on their fleet of vans. The slogans, which don’t really qualify as advertising since they ...
By Maya Dusenbery • 10 years ago

Having body hair will literally turn you into a dude, according to Veet’s new ad campaign

I seem to remember a time when sexism in advertising was subtle enough that critiquing it involved some skill — or least a keen eye. It was fun, truth be told, to tease out the sexist subtexts of so many of the commercials that inundate media consumers every day. Perhaps I’m romanticizing the not-so-distant past, but these days — and I don’t know if it’s due to pure laziness or some increased gender anxiety that advertisers are picking up on — it seems that, more and more, subtext is becoming straight-up text. 

I seem to remember a time when sexism in advertising was subtle enough that critiquing it involved some skill — or least a keen eye. It was fun, truth be told, to tease out the sexist subtexts ...
By Mychal Denzel Smith • 10 years ago

Snickers’ hunger-induced street harassment

For a few years now, Snickers has run ad campaign based the slogan “You’re not you when you’re hungry,” where people in extreme states of hunger act completely out of character until they’re able to eat a Snickers. A number of celebrities have lent their talents to this campaign, including Betty White, Joe Pesci, Robin Williams, Aretha Franklin, and others. The premise is clever enough, as far as advertisements for candy bars go, and generally not worth the time analyzing.

But I had only ever seen the US ads. Yesterday, I saw a version of this that’s aimed at an Australian audience. Holly Kearl posted it at her blog, Stop Street Harassment. It’s…perhaps too clever for its own good.

For a few years now, Snickers has run ad campaign based the slogan “You’re not you when you’re hungry,” where people in extreme states of hunger act completely out of character until they’re able to eat a ...

"I need a hero" t-shirt
By Maya Dusenbery • 11 years ago

Who approved these ridiculously sexist “Avengers” T-shirts?

Welp, sexist advertising doesn’t get much more blatant this.

Here’s Marvel’s Avengers T-shirt for boys:

And for girls:

Update: Sign the petition to say we’re #notbuying it.

Related: What if dude superheroes posed like lady superheroes?

Welp, sexist advertising doesn’t get much more blatant this.

Here’s Marvel’s Avengers T-shirt for boys:

And for girls:

Update: Sign the petition to say we’re #notbuying it.

Related: What if dude superheroes posed ...
By Syreeta McFadden • 11 years ago

Quick Hit: McKenna Pope’s crusade for gender neutral advertising of Easy Bake Ovens

13 -year-old McKenna Pope is seeking to break the gender paradigm in advertising, starting a petition to get Hasbro, the maker of the Easy Bake Oven to redesign its product packaging and advertising to include boys. Sparked by her little brother’s love to “cook,” Pope responded to her brother’s questioning why the commercial only features girls playing with the oven.

In Pope’s video appeal to support her petition to Hasbro, she asks: “Is this really the message we want to send to our youth? I thought as a society, that we have moved far past that. But no, we continue to force the stereotype that men don’t cook, they work.”

Pope’s petition has over just under 24,000 supporters.

If men can ...

13 -year-old McKenna Pope is seeking to break the gender paradigm in advertising, starting a petition to get Hasbro, the maker of the Easy Bake Oven to redesign its product packaging and advertising to include boys. ...
By Maya Dusenbery • 11 years ago

Swedish toy company reverses genders in new catalogue

Top Toy, one of the largest toy companies in Sweden, is flipping the gender script in its Christmas catalogue. This year, girls are shown playing with toy guns, while boys are playing with dollhouses. The company was called out a few years ago by a watchdog group for its stereotypical advertising, and decided it needed to adapt to Sweden’s progressive attitudes about gender.

Here’s hoping someday American toy companies heed the call of girls like Riley and quit with the ridiculously gendered marketing too.

Top Toy, one of the largest toy companies in Sweden, is flipping the gender script in its Christmas catalogue. This year, girls are shown playing with toy guns, while boys are playing with dollhouses. The company ...

Load More