A new campaign is encouraging people to stand up against the objectification of women in advertising.
Famed New York advertising executive Madonna Badger is tackling industry issues again, with a new spot on International Women's Day to highlight how the objectification of women in advertising can harm real women.
Earlier in the year, Badgers&Winters released #WomenNotObjects, a powerful campaign exposing the regularly occurring objectification of women in a number of iconic advertising campaigns from brands such as Burger King, Budweiser and Tom Ford, to name a few.
The new ad shows how harmful beauty trends in the media can be, from dramatic weight loss to achieve a 'thigh gap' and taking dangerous measures to get large lips like Kylie Jenner.
The powerful spot also showcases how advertising often trivialises sexual assault and battery, interspersing ads with news clips reporting on the New Year's Day sexual assaults in Cologne and the rape of a 16-year-old girl.
“We raise our little girls to view their bodies as projects to constantly be improved,” a voiceover says in the spot.
Heading to the streets of America, young women speak about how the media affects their self-worth, with one girl saying: “It warps your idea of what’s real”.
The ad ends with this question: Will you stand up for your mother, daughter, friend, co-worker, future? Will you stand up for yourself?
The goal is to put pressure on the industry to change how ads represent women, and thus the effect they have on society.
Speaking on the movement, Badger told WSJ she initiated the campaign to honour her three daughters who she lost in a Christmas house fire, along with her parents, in 2011.
She says: “I want my life to have a purpose … I love my job but I don’t want to do it if it hurts anyone”.
Badger & Winters are encouraging others to stand up against objectification in advertising by posting videos to social media using the hashtag #IStandUp.
Check out other campaigns from Uber, Google and ANZ released for International Women's Day.
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