Commercials increasingly target the feminist movement
Nico Santangelo
The face of marketing has changed recently, fueled by the newest iteration of the feminist movement. Advertisements that often featured male spokespersons are increasingly switching to women. For example, the Brawny paper towel man, known for his burly manliness, has been replaced by a plaid clad woman on their packaging. Trivago has added Australian performing artist Gabrielle Miller to their print ads, which caused a stir in London when her face appeared on every advertising sign in the London Tube.
The newest feminisation of marketing has come from Red Baron pizza. Deciding to target the increasing number of Millennial mothers, the frozen pizza company released “The Baroness”; she is a bomber-jacket wearing mother whose patches symbolize victories over relatable mom issues. The latest commercial has her sharing pseudo-war stories of raising her children with another mother, with the stereotypical tavern replaced by a kitchen, and the beer replaced by Red Baron pizza.
Yoplait yogurt is furthering the targeting of the mothers with their “Mom On” campaign. Commercials featuring moms bragging about everything from drinking wine to bribing their kids. The campaign aims to strike back at negative parental stereotypes.
Special K cereal takes this bite up a notch, with a commercial proclaiming that women do, in fact, eat. The commercial shows women doing everything, often with a bowl of Special K in their hands. The announcer defiantly announces that women eat, while listing off all the things women both eat, and do while eating.
With the feminist movement reigniting itself in the last few years, advertisers will continue to target women. Whether or not the message they are presenting is real will be determined by the greatest critic: the consumer.
