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Unilever To Use ‘Less Sexist’ Ads

Unilever
Around 40% of women say they do not identify at all with the women they see in advertising, Unilever found (Unilever)

Ads showing women unable to resist the lure of chocolate, slaving in the kitchen and going giggly at the sight of a man will be no more if consumer goods giant Unilever has its way.

The firm, behind more than 400 brands from Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream to Dove soap, has pledged to remove sexist stereotypes from its own ads and called on rivals to follow suit.

Unilever
Around 40% of women say they do not identify at all with the women they see in advertising, Unilever found (Unilever)

Some 40% of women did not identify with their portrayal in ads, it said.

The firm spends £6bn a year on adverts ($8.8-Billion on advertising).

The figure makes it the second-biggest advertiser globally and chief marketing officer Keith Weed told the BBC this gave it a responsibility to push the change “on a broader society level”.

He said the campaign, dubbed Unstereotype, was the culmination of two years of research.

Unilever
Unilever’s Knorr advert previously showed a mother and daughter in the kitchen (Unilever)
Unilever
The new one shows a father and son cooking (Unilever)

This uncovered some “extraordinary things”, including that women were largely portrayed in a secondary or service role, with just 3% of ads featuring women in managerial or professional roles.

Other findings revealed almost all women (90%) felt they were presented as sex symbols and almost a third (30%) said adverts showed women as perceived by a man.

[vc_btn title=”More on Unilever Ads” style=”outline” color=”primary” size=”lg” align=”left” link=”url:http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Fbusiness-36595898||target:%20_blank”][vc_message message_box_style=”3d” message_box_color=”turquoise”]By  Katie Hope, BBC News, excerpt posted on SouthFloridaReporter.com June 22, 2016 [/vc_message]