October 2017
Breaking the Stereotype
As demonstrated by the Audi ad discussed earlier,
advertisers need to be careful to not show women as
objects in advertisements. It may be a common belief
that sex sells and therefore the tactic becomes taking
advantage of the female sexual image by equating it to
the advertised product. Such advertisements degrade
women to some extent. There are innumerable examples
across various categories, including food and beverages,
which depict women as sex objects, but the question
remains if this has a positive impact on the brand.
Although the impact may vary from one category to
another, depicting women as a sex object does not
have a strong impact on the brand. Showing women
as a sex object may be able to attract more attention,
but from our database we see that ads which have sex
or nudity in the storyline have lower impact on
the brand than those which do not.
PPS Index : Ad which have Sex/Nudity
The scores are expressed as indices based on the average
for the score within dataset (Avg=100)
Hence showing such ads may not be effective for
your brand strategy. Furthermore, objectifying women
beyond what is natural, could also be harmful to
individuals and our society as a whole.
Looking Forward
It will be interesting to see how the portrayal of
women’s roles will change in future, but the initial
efforts are quite encouraging. Several global bodies,
such as the Cannes Lions, are recognizing the
work done around gender equality in advertising.
So, why not play a pivotal role in shaping the way
people traditionally think of advertising by being bold
and challenging the status quo? Show what is the
reality today in the world. As Tanya Joseph recently
commented in Marketing Week, recognize that women
have significant purchasing power: stop casting them
in secondary roles or treating them like accessories 10 .
If you are not ready enough to be bold on mainstream
media, perhaps you can experiment with new ideas
through digital channel with new ideas, learn and
improve and then extend. But the cultural shift is
happening, so it is time to be prepared.
References:
1. http://indianexpress.com/article/business/business-others/out-with-the-old-more-of-the-
new-2932688/
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOpLBgEZOkk
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hpfop-jFxec
4. http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2103084/audi-advert-likening-women-
used-cars-backfires-china
5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hpfop-jFxec
6. http://www.sk-ii.com.sg/en/whats-new/in-the-spotlight/Marriage-Market-Takeover.aspx
7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_iCIISngdI
8. https://vimeo.com/102934402
9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7F2v1UD4fk
10. https://www.marketingweek.com/2017/09/13/tanya-joseph-women-advertising/
Other ads-
sex/nudity
not present
Source: Ipsos Ad Database in APAC & MENA
n=1500+ cases PPS Index is an impact measure on Brand Desire based on Purchase
Intent & Frequency of purchase/use
5