The UK Ad Watchdog recently announced a plan to introduce guidelines cracking down on TV ads that play on gender stereotypes. It has drawn attention to the low bar set by Australian standards (only forbidding ‘degrading’ sexual content) and consequences of a primarily self-regulated industry. See findings on Gender Bias in Media here.
Spotlight on gender stereotypes
Our take
Advertising has a responsibility to reflect society, the power to influence accepted values & norms and push for progress. Depictions of gender stereotypes perpetuate inequality where a lack of diversity has a cost for individuals, the economy and society as a whole. That they are unchallenged by self-regulation prompts discussion around enforcing regulation to encourage and normalise depictions of the more progressive world we believe we live in.
Jen Nicholls