Unilever praised by the 3% Conference founder for its step away from gender stereotypes in ads
Last week, Unilever announced a new marketing policy which would see it take a step away from its historic use of gender stereotypes across 400 of its brands in an age where they may no longer be largely relevant, a decision applauded by founder of The 3% Conference, Kat Gordon.
Magnum advert
Speaking to The Drum about the policy change, Gordon, who runs the annual conferences in New York and London which aims to dispense with the gender divide witnessed within the advertising community around its leadership, was pleased with the announcement.
“Vowing for more dimensional, respectful images of women is, of course, something I applaud. It almost seems embarrassing that in 2016 this represents a shift from the way we've done business historically. Substitute any group for ‘women’ in that sentence and of course the advertising targeting that group should begin with a belief that the customer is worthy of respect,” she began.
“The announcement in Cannes will be measurably easier to execute if Unilever's agency partners -- BBH, 72andSunny, JWT, DDB, MullenLowe and Ogilvy -- have a healthy representation of women creating the ads. The more women you have making media, the more media makes of women. Of the six agencies, four are sponsors of The 3% Conference, signifying a commitment to more female leadership in its creative ranks. This is a hopeful indicator for the campaign work to come from Unilever in the years ahead,” Gordon continued.
The Drum has taken a look back at previous Unilever ads which have been accused of using gender stereotypes that may have inspired its new approach.