Men in Advertising

There was a time when advertising regularly and shamelessly played on gender stereotypes against women. Women were portrayed as bad drivers; as incompetent; as dimwitted and as utter narcissists.

At least, that's what I've heard. I wasn't alive back then.

But anyway. The only form of gender stereotype I've ever known is against men. I've never seen a woman portrayed as stupid, slow or uncultured in advertising. In the same way that we don't play on Asian stereotypes to sell computers, or playing on African-American stereotypes to sell KFC, I can't imagine any company in the Western world thinking that portraying a woman as inadequate, in any way, is a viable way to sell whatever it is they're selling.

But men are still fair game.

Think of the last ad you saw that involved both a man and a woman. Who had the upper hand? Who was portrayed as bumbling, stupid and dimwitted? Who was portrayed as an absolute fool, who couldn't fend for themselves and needed their wiser, more confident member-of-the-opposite-gender to take care of them?

Clemenger BBDO's latest ad for Libra is a prime example of this. Playing on mens' general ignorance and/or disinterest in tampons and pads, the ad shows a man wearing the pads as armor on his arms, on his head, pretending to be a superhero, etc. Basically, being a childish arsehole.

First off, Libra missed out on what would have, quite possibly, been the greatest and most amazing tagline ever to grace Australian TV:

Second, I hate this kind of advertising. It creates the same negative stereotypes towards men that first and second-wave feminists fought so vehemently against all those years ago.

Show me something real. Something genuine. Something that doesn't always portray men as idiots as eternal comeuppance for the crimes of our grandfathers.

You create equality by lifting people up; not by dragging other people down. Show me an ad where a woman unwittingly uses a giant condom as swim cap, and then we'll call it even.