BOOK ME TO BRING THIS TALK TO YOUR ORGANIZATION EVENT: www.katie-martell.com/speaking What is the impact on the fight for women's rights when advertisers use feminism in marketing campaigns, but fail to live up to the ideals? Is the exploitation of feminism in advertising dangerous? Read more: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/marketing-trend-we-should-leave-behind-2018-faux-feminism-martell/ Many companies using feminist messaging in their ads are poor examples of these ideals internally - for example, paying millions in lawsuits for pay inequality and discrimination against women, or by perpetuating unrealistic beauty standards. This not only creates an illusion of progress, it cheapens the movement for equal rights. It's lip service. There is a real and present danger to decades of progress in the feminist movement if we accept this trend of faux-feminism without holding companies accountable.

1. The Hypocrisy of
AKA the Exploitation of Feminism in Advertising
@KatieMartell

2. There’s a new term in town.

3. Maybe you’ve heard it?

5. It’s a marketing trend
that uses the ideals of
feminism in advertising.

6. Feminism

7. Feminism + advertising

8. Feminism + advertising
= Femvertising

9. You get the idea.

10. Here are a few examples.

11. Who knew three pounds of mascara
and a blow out were required to win races.

12. Some femvertising ads feature
familiar metaphors, like
breaking the glass ceiling.

13. FYI…

14. KPMG is the subject of a
$400M class-action lawsuit
- Accounting Today, “KPMG Gender Discrimination Lawsuit Expands” May 13, 2016

15. KPMG is the subject of a
$400M class-action lawsuit
- Accounting Today, “KPMG Gender Discrimination Lawsuit Expands” May 13, 2016
alleging a pattern of
gender discrimination, including

16. KPMG is the subject of a
$400M class-action lawsuit
- Accounting Today, “KPMG Gender Discrimination Lawsuit Expands” May 13, 2016
alleging a pattern of
gender discrimination, including
denying promotions to women,
and penalizing them
for taking maternity leave.

17. KPMG is the subject of a
$400M class-action lawsuit
- Accounting Today, “KPMG Gender Discrimination Lawsuit Expands” May 13, 2016
alleging a pattern of
gender discrimination, including
denying promotions to women,
and penalizing them
for taking maternity leave.

18. Other femvertising campaigns tackle
common issues
facing women,

19. Other femvertising campaigns tackle
common issues
facing women,
like double standards
in the workplace.

20. Apparently the best
defense against sexist
double standards in
business is perfectly
shampooed hair

21. Apparently the best
defense against sexist
double standards in
business is perfectly
shampooed hair
and sexy heels.

22. Some of these ads feature
relatable moments
in the fight
for pay equity.

23. BTW, the executive team at
Secret’s parent company (P&G)
is 75% male.
P&G Leadership Team http://us.pg.com/who-we-are/leadership-team

24. BTW, the executive team at
Secret’s parent company (P&G)
is 75% male.
P&G Leadership Team http://us.pg.com/who-we-are/leadership-team

25. This ad
encourages
women to
stop apologizing:

26. Ladies, don’t say sorry.

27. Oh, but be sure to continue
spending $426 billion a year
on beauty products to look
hot at work.
Ladies, don’t say sorry.

28. Oh, but be sure to continue
spending $426 billion a year
on beauty products to look
hot at work.
Ladies, don’t say sorry.

29. Oh, but be sure to continue
spending $426 billion a year
on beauty products to look
hot at work.
That’s $141 billion more than
your male colleagues.
Ladies, don’t say sorry.

30. Oh, but be sure to continue
spending $426 billion a year
on beauty products to look
hot at work.
That’s $141 billion more than
your male colleagues.
And on average you make
79 cents to their dollar.
Ladies, don’t say sorry.

31. Oh, but be sure to continue
spending $426 billion a year
on beauty products to look
hot at work.
That’s $141 billion more than
your male colleagues.
And on average you make
79 cents to their dollar.
Ladies, don’t say sorry.
(If you’re white.)

32. Oh, but be sure to continue
spending $426 billion a year
on beauty products to look
hot at work.
That’s $141 billion more than
your male colleagues.)
And on average you make
79 cents to their dollar.)
Ladies, don’t say sorry.
(If you’re white.)

33. Did you see
this ad
during the
superbowl?

34. So cute, right?

35. (Audi has no female
board members.)

36. (Audi has no female
board members.)

37. But there’s one ad that started it all.

38. “Campaign for Real Beauty”
from Dove / Ogilvy & Mather

39. This campaign was
praised heavily for its
empowering
message for women.

40. It was radical.

41. 30X
The buzz about the
campaign drove
30X more exposure
than paid media space.

42. And, sales at Dove
grew from
$2.5B - $4B
in the decade after
the campaign launched.

43. Big $ucce$$ for the brand.

44. The company continues to cash in on the
trend, recently running a campaign in the UK
equating women’s bodies to bottles.

45. It was less successful.

46. “I’ve yet to meet the woman
honored and celebrated
by plastic bottles on supermarket shelves."
- Ruth Mortimer, Marketing Week

47. “Dove, I have arms,
please advise.”
- Rachel Handler, Twitter

48. “Have you ever been in the shower,
picked up your smooth, perfect soap container
and screamed ‘I CAN’T LIVE UP TO THESE STANDARDS!’”
- Aimee Lutkin, Jezebel

50. Look, I appreciate what Dove has done
to get “real women real beauty”
into the public narrative.

51. But here’s the problem.

52. But here’s the problem.
These story arcs are
only used when convenient.

53. Unilever

54. Unilever
(Dove’s parent company)

55. Unilever
(Dove’s parent company)
also owns Axe body spray

56. Unilever
(Dove’s parent company)
also owns Axe body spray
known for ads like this:

63. And my favorite ->

64. One that literally reduced
women to a pair of breasts.

65. One that literally reduced
women to a pair of breasts.

66. Same company. Conflicting stories.

67. Let’s call a spade a spade.

68. This is feminist when convenient.

69. This is feminist as an afterthought.

70. This is feminist as an answer to
the age-old question:

71. This is feminist as an answer to
the age-old question:
“How do we sell
more products to
women?”

72. Even the campaign that recently made
feminist headlines is not exactly innocent.

74. Yes, Fearless Girl.

75. Commissioned by
State Street Global
Advisors, this was a move
to coincide with
International Womens Day.

76. This statue of a young girl was placed
in front of Wall Street’s Charging Bull
in Manhattan’s Financial District

77. According to the company, it was
meant to celebrate “the power of
women in leadership” and
“raise awareness about "gender
diversity" in corporate leadership.

78. (I loved this campaign, too. But…)

79. KPMG is the subject of a
State Street is paying out
$5 million to settle allegations
it paid female and black
executives at the firm less
than their white, male
counterparts.
Chicago Tribune, “Firm behind Fearless Girl statue to pay $5 million settlement for underpaying female execs” October 6 2017

80. KPMG is the subject of a
The company also boasts a
leadership team that is 82%
male and nearly entirely white.

81. So, what’s happening here?

82. Let’s unpack this a bit.

83. Our marketing industry defines femvertising as:
“harnessing feminism
in advertising”
“advertising that employs
pro-female talent,
messages and imagery to
empower women and girls”
or

84. There’s even an
industry award to
celebrate femvertising,
organized by a
company who helps
advertisers reach
women.

85. “52% of women have bought a
product because they liked how
the ad for it portrayed women”
They’ve done studies claiming
consumers want femvertising:
“43 percent said it made
them feel good about
supporting the brand”
-SheKnows Media

86. Generally, it’s clear why brands deploy
these types of campaigns.

87. It’s a byproduct of our time.
We live in a polarized world, and
share content that reflects our POV,
or supports ideals we care about.

88. Ads have
historically
created new
insecurities.
Jean Kilbourne– Killing Us Softly

89. These, on the surface,
reflect ideals of equality.
Of course we want to share them,
and celebrate them.

90. But, behind every great femvertising campaign, is a
living breathing woman at that company who is likely
not getting paid the same as her male colleagues.

91. National Partnership for Women & Families, America’s Women and the Wage Gap, April 2017
Today, black women are typically paid 63 cents
and Latinas just 54 cents for every dollar paid
to white, non-Hispanic men.

92. Another fun fact:

93. Only 11% of creative directors in
advertising are women. The world’s
six top ad groups are run by men.

94. I believe in the power of marketing.

95. And that’s why I’m so vocal about this.

96. And that’s why I’m so vocal about this.
There is a real and present danger to
feminism if we accept this trend of
femvertising without holding
companies accountable.

97. And that’s why I’m so vocal about this.
There is a real and present danger to
feminism if we accept this trend of
femvertising without holding
companies accountable.

98. And that’s why I’m so vocal about this.
There is a real and present danger to
feminism if we accept this trend of
femvertising without holding
companies accountable.

99. And that’s why I’m so vocal about this.
There is a real and present danger to
feminism if we accept this trend of
femvertising without holding
companies accountable.

100. And that’s why I’m so vocal about this.
There is a real and present danger to
feminism if we accept this trend of
femvertising without holding
companies accountable.

101. “When is a movement not a movement?
When it’s a marketing campaign in a
movement’s clothing.”
- Mari Brighe, Daily Dot

102. Companies have started to profit from these ideals
while embodying the opposite.

103. We cannot become
complacent at this
disconnect.

104. We cannot become
complacent at this
hypocrisy.

105. We cannot become
complacent at this
lip service.

106. Pioneering activist
Jean Kilbourne
once asked…

107. What is the impact of advertising on women?

108. For decades,
she has researched
ads like this:

113. Jean found that the
effects of ads are
subconscious.

114. Jean found that the
effects of ads are
subconscious.
Many of us don’t believe
we’re affected by them.

115. Yet there is a direct correlation between
ads like this

116. Yet there is a direct correlation between
ads like this and a culture that abuses women.

117. “Ads sell more than products.
They sell normalcy.”
- Jean Kilbourne

118. So, with this rise in
femvertising, I ask:

119. So, with this rise in
femvertising, I ask:
What is the impact of
advertising on feminism?

120. What is the impact on the fight for
women’s equality when companies use
feminist messaging in their marketing –
but don’t live up to these ideals?

121. This redefines feminism
in a dangerous way.

122. This redefines feminism
in a dangerous way.
It diminishes it to a tagline.

123. This redefines feminism
in a dangerous way.
It diminishes it to a tagline.
It dumbs it down to a hashtag.

124. This redefines feminism
in a dangerous way.
It diminishes it to a tagline.
It dumbs it down to a hashtag.
It cheapens it.

125. Femvertising “takes the edge off” feminism
a word whose meaning has been twisted and lost.

126. This trend makes a difficult reality more palatable.

127. It’s known as “pink-washing” or “soft-feminism.”

128. We don't need feminist advertising.

129. We need companies to hire more women.

130. We need companies to hire more women.
We need more women in leadership roles.

131. We need companies to hire more women.
We need more women in leadership roles.
We need diverse hiring practices.

132. We need companies to hire more women.
We need more women in leadership roles.
We need diverse hiring practices.
We need to train our employees for bias.

133. We need companies to hire more women.
We need more women in leadership roles.
We need diverse hiring practices.
We need to train our employees for bias.
We need to pay women for equal work.

134. That’s real progress.

135. These ads are nothing but lip service.

136. Let’s start calling them what they are.

137. Faux-FeminismThe exploitation of feminism by advertising.

138. Feminism The (radical) idea
that women
should be treated
equally to men.
(noun)

139. Advertising Paid announcement
meant to sell
product.(noun)

140. Exploitation Taking advantage of
someone to benefit
from their work.(noun)

141. Faux-feminism
contributes to an
illusion of progress
in marketing to
women.

142. This type of advertising tricks us into
thinking society is more progressive
than it truly is.

143. "Men are more likely to think the workplace is
equitable; women see a workplace that is less fair
and offers less support.”
– McKinsey & Company

144. It creates “diversity blind spots.”

145. We can’t solve problems that we
don’t see or understand clearly.

146. By accepting these
illusions of support, we
send a message to
corporations that they can
cash in on feminism.

147. BETTY FRIEDANGLORIA STEINEMELEANOR ROOSEVELT BELL HOOKSSIMONE DE BEAUVIOR
We can’t reduce decades of real effort
down to a marketing tagline.

148. Especially not today, a critical time for this
movement to be taken seriously.

149. So, where do we
go from here?

150. I would like to propose
some "rules of
engagement" for using
feminism in your
marketing efforts.

151. A handy checklist to tell if you’re ready
to use feminism in your marketing:

152. A handy checklist to tell if you’re ready
to use feminism in your marketing:
ü You are a model for women’s equality.

153. A handy checklist to tell if you’re ready
to use feminism in your marketing:
ü You are a model for women’s equality.
ü You put your money where your mouth is.

154. A handy checklist to tell if you’re ready
to use feminism in your marketing:
ü You are a model for women’s equality.
ü You put your money where your mouth is.
ü You walk the talk.

155. It’s simple, really.

156. If you’re not ready
to hold your company up
to the standards of feminism,
don’t exploit feminism in your marketing.

157. THINK HARD before
attaching your brand to
things that matter way more
than your brand ever could.
- Doug Kessler, Creative Director, Velocity

158. Do better.

159. Thank you for reading.
@KatieMartell