“There is a real and present danger to decades of progress in the feminist movement if we accept faux-feminism without holding companies accountable. ”

— @KATIEMARTELL

FEMVERTISING, OR FAUX FEMINISM?

What is the impact on the fight for women's rights when advertisers use feminism in marketing campaigns, but fail to live up to the ideals?

Many companies using feminist messaging in their marketing are poor examples of these ideals internally (paying millions in lawsuits for discrimination against women, or perpetuating unrealistic beauty standards.)

This not only creates an illusion of progress, it cheapens the movement by giving it lip service. This site was built to expose it, and educate consumers and marketers alike on the impact of femvertising. Read more about this site.

THE SPECTRUM

All femvertising campaigns fall somewhere on a spectrum between LIP SERVICE (a marketing gimmick that exploits the feminism narrative without taking real action) and LEGIT (when a campaign and the company behind it actively support the women’s rights movement.)

EXAMPLE CAMPAIGNS

Femvertising Campaigns

Lean Cuisine Gets "It All" Wrong

Diageo Tackles Gender Balance in Advertising

Secret

Jane Walker (Diageo)

Dove

Fearless Girl - SSGA

Pantene

KPMG

Submit yours here. | See all campaigns.

EXPOSING ACTS OF FAUX-FEMINISM IN MARKETING

ABOUT

FEMVERTISING RESOURCES

The Hypocrisy of Femvertising from Katie Martell

ARTICLES by KATIE MARTELL:

The New Rules of Using Feminism in Advertising, Chief Marketer Magazine, May 30, 2018
Where Did “It All” Go Wrong — Lean Cuisine’s Femvertising Campaign, Medium, May 29, 2018
How Should We React to Jane Walker? A Scorecard for Marketing to Women, LinkedIn, March 5, 2018
The Marketing Trend We Should Leave Behind in 2018, LinkedIn, December 4, 2017
Dove’s Ad Blunder Shows the Bar is Set Higher for Marketing to Women, LinkedIn, May 13, 2017
The $12 Trillion Female Empowerment Narrative Opportunity - and its Exploits, LinkedIn, February 4, 2017
The Illusion of Progress in Marketing to Women, LinkedIn, July 1, 2016 (where it all began.)

COVERAGE:

TheNewsWorthy, March 7, 2019: International Womens Day + Ads

PuroMarketing, March 5, 2019: Feminismo y publicidad: por qué las marcas deben cuidar lo que dicen durante la semana del 8 de marzo

The Drum, Marcy 4, 2019: Marketing’s ‘faux-feminism’ problem on International Women’s Day

ChiefMarketer, June 21, 2019: Experts Weigh In On Marketing to Women in the #MeToo Era

The Drum, March 19, 2018: Lessons from International Women’s Day: when is it ok to get involved as a brand?

BizJournals, November 22, 2017: Feminist onscreen, mostly male in the boardroom: Digital marketer calls out hollow promises of 'femvertising'

LITMUS TEST

How do we, as consumers and marketers, measure up a femvertising campaign against this spectrum?

By asking hard questions:

If mostly “no’s” – This company is paying lip service to feminism. This is “faux-feminism” and a gimmicky marketing campaign meant to cash in on the women’s rights movement by earning free press. If you’re evaluating your own firm against this checklist, and reach mostly “no,” it’s likely best to pursue another narrative in your campaign.

If mostly’s “yes’s” – Fist bumps all around. This is a champion of women’s rights, a company putting their money where their mouth is and creating real change in the world through their actions. They deserve to be celebrated for using femvertising to grow their brand equity and awareness.

VIDEOS

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