Brands have been considering new approaches to gender in marketing to create gender-friendly campaigns in lieu of the paradigm shift in society regarding gender. One of the approaches is femvertising, which emphasizes feminine strength and empowers women, aiming to dispel the negative stereotypes of women. Another is the death of what is coined as “bro marketing”. This occurs when stereotypically masculine brands change up their “macho” image to reflect the many different, atypical ways to be a man. There is also gender-neutralising marketing, which is for campaigns that throw all gender assignations under the bus and re-imagine masculinity and femininity as fluid concepts.
One of the earliest and most popular examples of femvertising is from Always, the feminine hygiene brand owned by Procter & Gamble. Their Superbowl ad “Like A Girl” sought to redefine the phrase “like a girl,” as something strong and powerful and attack with Always called, “the self-esteem crisis” among young girls.
In the ad, men and women of all ages are asked to describe what they think the phrase “like a girl” means and everyone except for the young girls, demonstrate that “like a girl” is often used as an insult. Yet the young girls act out athletic motions—just like anyone would, implying that the negative connotation of doing something “like a girl” is something that is learned over time and hence, something that can be changed.
Other ways brands have been changing has been expanding their target market and making gender irrelevant in their product branding and completely subverting gender stereotypes.
For example, a couple of traditionally male-focused brands like Nike, Adidas and Under Armour, have recently recognized that women make up a significant amount of their sales and have begun to actively target them in their marketing, for example the ‘I Will What I Want’ campaign from Under Armour featuring Ballet dancer Misty Copeland.
On the flip side, Dove has embraced the Genderblend movement with its recent Dove Men+Care ‘Real Strength’ campaign by highlighting the nurturing side of fatherhood. The campaign uses expressive visual aids of men in their role as fathers, with the underlying aim to bring into question the definition of physical strength verse emotional strength. Playing on the traditional masculine quality of strength, but connecting it to love and care—traditional feminine qualities, the campaign attempts to change the perceptions of fatherhood and masculinity.
Similarly, Pot Noodle’s “You Can Do It.” ad subverts traditional masculine stereotypes, by showing a man training for what appears to be a boxing match, but is the card holder (typically known as the ring girl) instead of the boxer.
There are a lot more examples of how brands have been breaking stereotypes and redefining the landscape of advertising. To find out more, check out the articles below: