Publish Date: Aug 19, 2019
STATEMENT Thursday, August, 14,2019
Unstereotype Alliance Statement regarding news
about the UK’s Advertising Standard Authority’s decision to ban two advertisements
“The commitment to ending stereotypes in advertising is serious”
News on the decisions by the ASA with regards to two advertisements adjudged to have not met standards regarding the furthering of stereotypes gives welcome new attention to the issue regardless of the merits of the ads in question. Dan Seymour, Director of Strategic Partnerships for UN Women and lead for the Unstereotype Alliance said: “It is encouraging to see the impact the UK’s ASA guidelines are already having and that the commitments made to ending stereotypes in advertising are serious. Harmful gender stereotypes have profound consequences. They are behind different forms of discrimination, from limiting women’s leadership roles to reducing their economic opportunity. They underlie significant problems of violence against women, something experienced by an estimated one in three women in the world, with consequences that threaten women’s lives. Advertisers shape our attitudes on a daily basis. As a result, they have a huge role to play in challenging norms and presenting more progressive and positive role models, and a responsibility to be a force for equality. At its heart the Unstereotype Alliance is founded on the belief that we must recognize the problem and acknowledge that despite progress we still see stereotypes in advertising. Brands need to take steps to ensure that this changes, including by using tools such as those the Unstereotype Alliance is making available.”
The Problem Is Not Seeing the Problem
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngtO-efwLlw
The Unstereotype Alliance is a thought and action platform that seeks to eradicate harmful gender-based stereotypes in all media and advertising content. Convened by UN Women, the United Nations entity for Gender Equality, the Unstereotype Alliance provides the tools and know-how needed to create an unstereotyped world, including access to a free measurement tool that allows marketers worldwide to check for gendered stereotypes that may unintentionally work their way into ads. The tool, called the Unstereotype Metric, addresses how both male and female characters are represented in ads, with the goal of ensuring that they are portrayed as positive role models to all audiences.
For further information please contact
The Unstereotype Alliance
unstereotypealliance@unwomen.org