Stay aware of sexism in adverts
Stay aware of sexism in adverts is a media literacy campaign aiming to raise awareness about sexism in adverts. It targets both audiences and advertisers.
Context:
Sexism content exists in adverts in Vietnam. Those contents have been spread out through mass media via TV shows, magazines, banners, and various online, social media channels, etc., from fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), medical supplies & cosmetics, hospitality services to banking and real estate sectors, etc. Consequently, it impacts people on a grandiose scale and reinforced gender stereotypes and norms in Vietnam, which already the most pervasive and compelling barriers for Vietnamese women to take collective action to assert their rights. Objectives:
Raising public media literacy in terms of sexism in adverts together with encouraging advertisers to share their opinions from insiders’ perspectives and become active do-ers increating more non-sexism adverts.Target population:
Primary: Audiences of Advertising productsSecondary: Professional advertisers/ marketers, future advertisers/ marketers.
Highlighted activities and results:
“Nhu hinh voi bong”
(Joined at the hip)
- dialogues between gender activists and advertisers in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City
Two dialogues with advertisers were organized in Hanoi (9th March) and Ho Chi Minh City (10th March), attracting 30 – 40 participants each, mostly from marketing/advertising background.
During the two events, two guest speakers from the advertising side, Mr. Phan Hai (marketer at VinGroup) and Mr. Trong Nguyen (Creative Director at Dinosaur Vietnam) openly discussed Sexism in advertising with two gender experts Ms. Nhung Dinh (art curator and gender activist) and Ms. Kim Ngoc (freelance activist and gender consultant).
The conversations in both events were exceptional in many ways. Even though everyone agreed on the existence of sexism issues in the advertising industry, we couldn't deny obstacles preventing us from actively erasing it.
During the workshop in Hanoi, Mr. Hai said that most agencies had to depend on their clients' objectives and requirements, and there was not much-negotiating power there. Besides, from the talk in Ho Chi Minh city, Mr.Trong claimed that most advertisers had little, not to say zero, gender-based expertises.
However, everyone agreed there were more and more non-sexist, women empowerment, and gender-inclusive advertising products.
As a result, advertisers and gender experts came to an agreement that was ensuring gender equality is the responsibility of everyone.
“Tinh tao lam quang cao”
(Stay aware when creating adverts) contest
- 72-hour Non-sexist Advertising Competition
Not just saying, we designed a space for young advertisers/ marketers to take part in the adverting process from receiving the brief from the client to producing a video that would reflect their creative ideas, with a special request: no sexism in the video.
Since the launching of the competition on 19th February, the competition event on WEQUAL Facebook page has gained a total reach of 67,600 people with more than 1,100 responses. Before the announcement of the competition brief, 84 teams registered, with 3-5 members from each team. After 72 hours of dealing with the challenge, 51 teams submitted their final products, and this was a huge accomplishment because the competition brief was not easy to crack at all.
The presentations of the Top 6 teams amazed all the judges at how they analysed gender issues and integrated their findings into the final product.
They all understood that promoting gender equality is not between only men and women, not about putting female ahead of everything, but it’s actually about creating more freedom to everyone, making an environment where anyone can choose to be who they are and can develop to the fullest of their potentials.
References:
(please click on the titles below to view)Competition on Facebook event (67,600 total reach)
List of 51 submitted videos in qualifier round
News about the competition on Tien Phong, Vietnammoi
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Collaborated with Mr. Son Hoang (Gender Justice Coordinator at that time) and Wequal (a network of young gender activists)
Sponsored by Oxfam in Vietnam