Of sexy housewives and strong do-it-yourselfers

The poster shows a woman in high heels and tight fitting bodysuit. Long legs, narrow waist, red lips. She is surrounded by four men. One bends over her and pushes her to the ground. She turns her face away, towards the camera. Above it the logo: "Dolce & Gabbana".

The advertising subject of the Italian fashion designer from 2007 is considered a prime example of sexist advertising. A work of art, find the stylists, the glorification of a mass rape the critics. The advertising woman in the role of the object of desire - beautiful, sexy, submissive - always causes discussion.

Andreas Baetzgen of the Stuttgart Media University wanted to know how the factual situation of the topic is developing, what has happened in the last 20 years. Together with student Hannah Leute, the professor of strategic communication and branding examined how women are portrayed in 560 German TV commercials from seven industries from 1996 and 2016. The team chose TV as the medium because it could be considered a leading medium then as now due to its reach and presence, the 42-year-old explains in an interview. Together, they assessed how female actors appear in terms of status, appearance and personality.

Advertising continues to lag behind the emancipation of women in society.

"We came to the conclusion," says Baetzgen, "that the sexualized portrayal of women has declined significantly over the last 20 years." Whereas in the commercials studied from 1996, a good one in two women still appeared smiling lasciviously, lolling or breathing seductively, 20 years later the proportion was still 30 percent. The proportion of commercials in which women appear purely as sex objects next to the product has fallen from 12 to 4 percent. Needy and naive women are also seen less frequently. Today, the typical advertising woman appears more fun-loving, self-confident and independent.

"In the 20 years, a sensitization process has taken place in the advertising industry, the agencies and the industry," Baetzgen comments on the study results. And yet, he says, this clear development should not obscure the fact that women are still portrayed in a very sexualized, subordinate and stereotypical way. "Advertising thus continues to lag behind the emancipation of women in society."

Self is the industry

In the UK, advertising that uses sexist stereotypes is prohibited. Swiss law, on the other hand, like most European countries, does not prohibit sexist advertising. Corresponding initiatives in recent years have not been successful. One exception is cantonal and municipal regulations that prohibit the display of sexist advertising on public property. Otherwise, the self-regulatory body of the Swiss advertising industry, the Swiss Fairness Commission, is the point of contact for people who want to complain about advertising. When it comes to sex discrimination, Principle 3.11 comes into play: "Advertising that discriminates against one sex by violating the dignity of women or men is unfair."

What is considered sexist anyway?

The Swiss Commission for Fairness punishes sexist advertising in accordance with Principle 3.11. It states: "Advertising that discriminates against one gender by violating the dignity of women or men is unfair. Accordingly, it is considered unfair if stereotypical characteristics are attributed to men or women, thereby calling into question the equality of the sexes. If subjugation or exploitation is portrayed or it is suggested that violence or dominance is tolerable. If the age of children and adolescents is not respected with increased restraint or if there is no natural connection between the person embodying the gender and the advertised product. And last but not least: if the person is portrayed in a purely decorative function as an eye-catcher or if there is an inappropriate portrayal of sexuality.

In recent years, between six and 26 complaints regarding gender discrimination have been received in this country each year. In 2017, there were eight - the largest complaint block in percentage terms. The Fairness Commission approved four of them. In these cases, it advises the advertising companies to stop using the subject in question. Otherwise, it reserves the right to publish the company name on the website. "The decisions of the Fairness Commission," explains attorney Marc Schwenninger, who is Legal Secretary at the Fairness Commission, "have an educational function. Instead of immediate bans, market regulation works through persuasion."

In practice, however, it is not as clear as in theory which campaign will be punished as unfair in each individual case. When the Fairness Commission receives a complaint, a panel consisting of one representative each from the media, the advertising industry and the consumer side discusses with experts whether the complaint should be approved or rejected. "The limit is where discrimination takes place," explains Marc Schwenninger. "But the posture of a model, the camera perspective, the connection between the image and the product sometimes allow huge scope for interpretation."

Anja Derungs, Equal Opportunities Officer for the City of Zurich, can tell you a thing or two about this. She is present at these chamber meetings as a consulting expert and knows how heated the discussions can get. When it comes to gender discrimination, she says, some find certain subjects funny or perfectly okay, but others find them clearly degrading. "It's a hot-button issue because it affects all of us."

On Derung's desk is a printout of an advertising banner from the National Museum in Zurich with the slogan: "For you and your boys, knight's armor for 10 francs." A female citizen has come forward because she finds the slogan discriminatory. Why shouldn't girls also be interested in knight's armor?

Derungs points to another printout: Four slim ladies in bikinis with long legs and plump breasts, photographed from above, smile seductively from below high into the camera. Underneath the slogan: "Variety is joy". And: four cigar tubes in the same four colors as the ladies' bikinis. "Clearly sexist," Derungs judges. Because the submissive and clearly sexualized images of the women have no relation to the advertised product. And then she laughs when a printed poster of the fashion store Big falls into her hands. A muscular man in a tank top is hanging sexy lingerie. The slogan: "And suddenly guys like doing housework." In turn, she finds the subject funny, aptly ironic, and not at all sexist. In general, she thinks that men doing housework should appear more often in advertising. Or men playing with their children.

Mom and housewife

In contrast, most commercials are still dominated by the woman in the role of family mother and housewife, shows the study by Andreas Baetzgen. Only one in ten advertising women is seen in the work environment. Homosexual women and single mothers appear practically not at all. "Advertising has always used stereotypes," says brand expert Baetzgen, "because it has to make itself understood in a very short time." According to the professor, however, the stereotypes that advertisers like to use for women often miss the reality of life for most women in German-speaking countries entirely.

A 1981 television advertising study entitled "Spring Cleaning and South Sea Magic" by Joachim Kotelmann and Lothar Mikos already stated that women's role models were outdated. It was dominated by "the silly, simple 'little house cleaner,' whose entire senses and aspirations are directed toward soft laundry and the avoidance of cleaning streaks, and the young woman whose task it is to appear in advertising as a 'sexual object' on an equal footing with the product."

The typical advertising woman: young and beautiful

According to Baetzgen's study, women of a more mature age are generally underrepresented in TV commercials. The proportion of women under 35 was around 80 percent in the 1990s, as it is today. Every fifth woman is lightly dressed in commercials. Still, more of the actresses are of normal weight today than in the past (1996: 7%, 2016: 17%). And twice as many appear naturally and with little makeup (43%) than 20 years ago (19%). The majority, however, still remain: very slim and perfectly staged.

"Sex sells" - an outdated motto?

Sufficient studies of advertising research show that sex does generate attention: Sex does generate attention. However, sufficient scientific studies also indicate that sex appeal can distract from the actual advertising message. Consumers are most likely to tolerate sex appeal that is closely associated with the advertised product, which predestines cosmetics, fashion and underwear for playing with erotic stimuli. But anyone who overshoots the mark runs the risk of losing credibility and alienating female customers in the long term. Women then no longer buy this or that product in protest, swearing off a brand. In Berlin's Friedrichshain district, female consumers use an app to hand out a "red card" to companies whose advertising pisses them off because of sexism. "Congratulations," reads the message, "you've lost a customer with your sexist, discriminatory and misogynistic advertising ... and you know: One female customer attracts ten more." The women's rights organization "Terre des Femmes" also awards the "angry cactus" to particularly sexist advertising. And punished campaign subjects are readily picked up by the media, such as the Nivea magazine ad for the mature skin cream "Nivea Vital" in 2013. The British advertising regulator found that the skin of 62-year-old model Cindy Joseph had been Photoshopped to make her look at least 20 years younger.

The reception of these ideals makes it increasingly difficult for women to perceive themselves as beautiful.

What does this do to female recipients when they see such unrealistic images, such as the "totally sexy" superwoman of the Basel-based fashion brand Tally Weijl? They compare themselves with them, Maria-Lena Glässel states in her study "Werbeopfer Frau? Against their better judgment that advertising images represent unrealistic ideals of beauty, women feel the desire to live up to them. The comparisons are automated and can hardly be influenced voluntarily, writes the expert. This is because people have always compared themselves with others in order to assess their own abilities and appearance. "The reception of these ideals leads," says Glässel, "to the fact that it becomes increasingly difficult for women to perceive themselves as beautiful." Similarly, the British advertising watchdog concluded in a study that stereotypes disseminated via advertising can contribute to children and adults having less confidence in themselves in life.

Thea Rytz is a therapist at the Prevention of Eating Disorders Practice Center (PEP) and in the Psychosomatics Competence Center at Inselspital Bern. "Women do not fall ill with eating disorders exclusively because of advertising images," says the expert. "But the images that spread a perfect ideal of beauty add to the aggravation. They suggest a solution to feeling like a more valuable person." Today's ideal woman, she says, performs well, takes care of her health and has a powerful, contoured body. "My female patients think, 'If I just work on my body enough, I'll finally feel relieved,'" Rytz explains. It's a vicious cycle that doesn't work. As an always unattainable role model, the advertising images could become a prison for women who are already psychologically burdened. "I'm not against the depiction of naked breasts in general," Rytz says. "But I am against people being portrayed in a stereotypical and sexist way." What she would like to see: humorous protest and unconventional, humane portrayals of women as well as men.

Authentic goes down well

The Unilever beauty brand Dove has probably dared one of the most famous unconventional approaches. The 2006 spot "Evolution" shows in fast motion how a woman without makeup becomes a supermodel on an advertising poster with makeup and Photoshop - and how little she still looks like herself with a stretched neck, enlarged eyes and smoothed skin. In addition, the cosmetics company began to advertise its products with women who were clearly different from previous cosmetics models due to different body shapes.

It reportedly took three years for this new, authentic approach to gain internal traction. The official rationale for the strategy change on the website reads: "A study we conducted in 2004 found that only 2 percent of women worldwide would describe themselves as beautiful. And because we decided to help every woman achieve good body image and feel beautiful, we wanted to show women that what we see in magazines and on TV is not real life." In 2013, for example, the "Real Beauty" sketches touched on portraits of an artist who drew women based on their own and a stranger's description - with very different results. And in 2017, Dove engaged unconventional women under #MeineSchönheit as brand ambassadors.

A 2011 study by the Institute for Marketing and Management at the University of Bern shows that this approach is likely to be successful. Female recipients are more likely to form an emotional bond with brands in whose advertising they find themselves. The strategy of creating dream images that create a deficiency, which in turn the advertised product can remedy, seems increasingly outdated.

Our society is tired of retouched fake pictures.

Zurich-based advertiser Karin Estermann also observes this trend. "Our society is fed up with retouched fake images," says the creative director and partner of the agency Inhalt und Form. A dream facade that doesn't deliver what it promises no longer catches on today. Instead, what works in communication is the depiction of "real life. A style of photography and film is in vogue that suggests images cut from everyday life, the keyword being "slice of life. "The trend is not over yet," says Estermann. "It's now also spilling over into the influencer world, where more and more social media stars are presenting themselves in an unaffected way, sometimes without makeup."

With a hammer against chiseled role clichés: In the current Hornbach commercial, a woman tears down walls and statues - and thus provides Heimat, Berlin with positive feedback.

The Pinkstinks organization wants to motivate even more advertisers to focus on naturalness and reverse role models. With the "pink poodle," the German organization honors creatives who break gender stereotypes in advertising campaigns and celebrate social diversity. This March, two winners emerged: first, the German savings bank and agency Preuss und Preuss with a campaign featuring a man in a fairy costume. And secondly, the "Smashing the Clishes" commercial from the Hornbach DIY store and the Heimat agency in Berlin, which has already won several awards. In the spot, a woman takes a hammer and smashes not only an apartment wall, but also traditional female roles carved in stone. Exhausted, she wipes her sweaty brow at the end. The tagline: "We never said it would be easy." Nor will it be easy to adapt the image of women in advertising to reality. But the creative industry seems to be on the right track.

Text: Ann-Kathrin Kübler

Annotation: The article is published in the Advertising Week Print edition 08/2018 published: