Crackdown on sexist ads
Ban on 'harmful' gender stereotypes in adverts comes into force
A ban on adverts that perpetuate harmful gender stereotypes, such as men struggling with changing nappies, comes into force.
A new rule written into the UK's Advertising Codes should mean adverts that perpetuate harmful gender stereotypes are taken off TV.From today, commercials must not include stereotypes "which are likely to cause harm, or serious or widespread offence".
According to the ASA, the aim is to identify specific harm that should be prevented, rather than banning gender stereotypes altogether.
Craig Jones, director of communications for the ASA, says: "You won't see an end to men doing DIY in ads or women doing shopping because we believe that not all gender stereotypes are harmful, but we've set out examples of ones we think are harmful, images like a family trashing the house and the mother having sole responsibility for cleaning it up, or men who can't change nappies."
People can bring a complaint if they think advertisers have not lived up to the new rule. The ASA says a jury will decide on a case-by-case basis whether an advert is harmful and should or should not be allowed to be broadcast or published.
Mr Jones said the changes follow on from extensive research they carried out.
"We spoke to a lot of people and we found that these images, these outdated portrayals of gender roles in ads have the potential to lead to unequal outcomes. "They can lead to men and women, but particularly women and young girls, having a narrower sense of their place in the world."
However, deciding whether advertisers have breached the rules will be a question of interpretation.
Six years ago an advert for supermarket Asda was cleared of being sexist even though more than 600 complaints were made about how it portrayed a stressed out mother having to single-handedly prepare for Christmas - it is questionable whether under the new rules it would be allowed today.
Equally the more recent advert for voice-controlled speaker Amazon Echo called 'Dad's Day' would be allowed, showing a father struggling under the pressure of being left with his new baby on his own.
Sarah Jenkins, chief marketing officer at advertising agency Grey's, believes the industry shouldn't struggle to enforce the changes.
"Most agencies are progressive enough to make sure that we're getting it right already, to make sure were representing men and women already on screen with what we do.
"There's definitely times when agencies do default, sometimes through laziness, possibly because they don't have the right representation within their team to call out and go 'that's not right, that's not funny', sometimes we do make mistakes which is why these regulations are great, great safeguards, a great reminder to do the right thing."
Comments
Doing a comment about this topic is easy because everyone agrees. All of us want to finish harmful gender stereotypes and clichés in adverts on telly. In spite of I don´t watch TV and more twenty years ago I don´t watch ads they must take crackdown on sexist ads. I think Spain´s TV overtook several years ago ASA to ban adverts that perpetuate harmful gender stereotypes.
Having said this, I wonder if an advert shows a woman cleaning the kitchen is a serious offense, but if the same advert shows a man cleaning the kitchen, it is no offence. Why? Then what should we do? We should show a robot, of course, without gender, but in this case, this advert would be advertising a robot.
In my opinion, now young people get married with knowledge that they have to share all housework. I know that condition of human being is avoid working more than the rest at home, in the office and so on, but if the people don´t respect their partners or their colleagues the end comes and, after, frequently people regret but it´s impossible starting again already. This kind of people is unhappy every life. It´s nothing they can do and they remember that if they would had make an effort, the situation would be different.
See you.
Things are so different for today's couples but are relationships any easier?
I don't know if my parents were typical - my mother did (and still does) all the cooking, cleaning, ironing, shopping, gardening, painting and decorating while my father was (still is) incapable of even boiling an egg and doesn't know how to use the washing machine. He was the driver though nobody felt very safe when in the car with him.
I still find it strange to see a father pushing a pram (with just one hand seems to be the fashion). Supposedly, today's man will take on more responsibilities in the home.
Adverts should reflect this social change though some of the ideas mentioned in thsi article seem excessive.
Doing a comment about this topic is easy because everyone agrees. All of us want to see the last of harmful gender stereotypes and clichés in adverts on telly. In spite of not watching TV and not watching TV in more than twenty years, they must crackdown on sexist ads. I think Spanish TV, several years ago, beat ASA to ban adverts that perpetuate harmful gender stereotypes.
Having said this, I wonder if an advert which shows a woman cleaning the kitchen, it is a serious offense, but if the same advert shows a man doing the same thing, it is not an offense. Why? Then what should we do? We should show a robot, of course, without gender, but in this case, this advert would be advertising a robot. (If the robot spoke like Siri, there would undoubtedly be complaints.)
In my opinion, now young people get married knowing that they have to share all the housework. I know human beings are conditioned to avoid working more than the rest at home, in the office and so on, but if people don´t respect their partners or colleagues (the end comes - not sure what you mean) and, then, people often regret but it´s impossible to start again by then. This kind of people is unhappy all their lives. There's nothing they can do and they remember that if they had made an effort, the situation would be different.
Yippee! I'm going to have a beer now. I deserve one after that. :-)