Alison Driscoll

I recently read this article about gender biased advertising, and it definitely got me thinking about some of the overtly sexist advertising out there, as well as the more subtle, and perhaps more damaging, messages we are constantly bombarded with. It’s an issue that’s been around forever, which begs the question not what is left to talk about, but why are we still talking about it?

In my opinion, the in-your-face ads aren’t that offensive to most, because they are essentially making fun of themselves and of the issue. Comedian Lenny Bruce talks about how “it’s the suppression of the word that gives it the power, the violence, the viciousness” in regards to racist slurs, and I think his point holds true here. Heineken’s “Draught Keg” commercial, for instance, blatantly uses the image of a “perfect” woman, and it’s clever. They exaggerate the joke to make their intentions clear, and it works.

Advertising becomes offensive when it tries to avoid the issue and ends up delivering a more subtle dig at women. This ad for helpmefinddegrees.com lists all the different fields their services can direct you towards. Each profession has a corresponding icon of a person in that job—a cop for criminal investigation, a nurse for health care, etc. And that’s where the ad takes a wrong turn: there was a very obvious gender bias in determining which picture went with which title. Criminal investigator, bounty hunter, graphic designer, accountant and project manager are all male; social worker, teacher, HR officer, psychologist, health care manager and counselor are all female. The ad very clearly differentiates the professions based on antiquated stereotypes.

I’ve noticed this a few times at the internet marketing company where I work. Until recently, I was the only female employee, and therefore the only voice to be (not) heard on this issue. One site we designed used a young, blonde cheerleader on a business site. I politely (and later not so politely) argued that unless you are selling pom-poms, a cheerleader has no place on a website, and we would automatically be alienating a large segment of our target market. I firmly believed using this image was not in the best interest of the client, and so I refused to back down and eventually helped reach a compromise. But I still remember my gut reaction upon seeing that comp and thinking “that must be a placeholder image.”

Another glaring discrepancy was in an email promotion we created for a dating site. The email used photos of supposed members to punctuate the points being made in the text, as many internet dating sites are wont to do. The problem with this one was that the female photos were all full-body shots, while the males were just headshots. When I questioned the reasoning behind this decision, my colleague Dan Zarrella informed me that it was because“that’s what men want.” Apparently, women sell better than men in most markets.

So, when crafting a marketing campaign or choosing images, it pays to get a varied perspective (read: both sexes) before the finals go out. It may be just my opinion, but I think I speak for roughly half the population.