Gender Representation in PR

I have always found the use of gender in PR campaigns an interesting subject, and this week’s media has provided topic for interesting debate.

VW stereotyped women as bad drivers

Christmas is fast approaching, and so the battle of inventive campaigns from organisations has begun in a quest to be considered the perfect place to shop for presents.  John Lewis released their adorable advert, ‘The Journey', Debenhams are on a mission to make Christmas fabulous and Asda, well, their advert has caused some controversy to say the least.

Since it’s launch on November 4^th, the ad, which carries the strapline “Behind every great Christmas, there’s Mum”, has received 160 complaints branding it sexist, patronising, and an outdated representation of modern women. This could mean the advert is subject to investigation, and could potentially be banned just before Asda’s festive shopping period.

Using this example as a basis for a dissertation topic then, a study of the representation of women in PR campaigns could be conducted to determine whether sexism is still very much in existence, or if this was just a badly-judged mistake and poor choice of campaign from the supermarket giant.

We typically consider ourselves to live in a modern, open society, where previous gender-stereotypes have firmly become a thing of the past. Imagine if the featured Volkswagen campaign was used today!

A joke, or a sexist chocolate bar?

Yet there are some organisations that seem get away with the use of sexism and gender discrimination to promote their products. Take Nestle’s Yorkie Bar and the ‘Not For Girls’ campaign. Of course, this is made to entertain, and not offend, but where is the line drawn when it comes to using gender discrimination as a joke? In a society where gender equality is widely promoted, is this ‘joke’ even acceptable when generating brand awareness?

When thinking about gender equality, consider the use of other supermarket or parenting campaigns. It is only recently that men are shown doing the weekly shop, or playing the doting father role and even then it’s sparse.

With this is mind, this dissertation topic seeks to explore whether PR has really moved where gender representation is concerned, or if women are still, and always, going to be portrayed and the mother and housewife types. Think about the last time that you saw a Dad successfully doing the house work in a campaign. Fairy Liquid offers audiences a 'montage' of housewives in their advertisement, not a man in sight. Generations have bought Fairy Liquid yes, but guess the gender of these consumers. 

This dissertation will also focus on the stereotype of the ‘dumb Dad’ and how this negative representation could potentially be painting a picture of men being incapable and irresponsible, such as in the Huggies ‘Dad Test’ campaign which got pulled.

Although women are portrayed in these instances as competent and wise, it is still a stereotype that defines them as the domestically-orientated gender. It could be argued that it is not showing any progression from the ‘housewife’ stereotypes of previous decades.

Of course, there would be an uproar if women were perceived as the ‘dumber’ sex, as society has, in theory, moved on from this. Yet, is it fair that men are now being portrayed in this 'dumb' light and what implications could such campaigns have on the stereotypes held about them in the future?

Has gender representation really moved on?