Women’s History Month kicked off on Thursday with International Women’s Day on March 8th — a day dedicated to gender equality, parity and women’s rights. To honor and celebrate women all over the world, brands such as Nike, Facebook, McDonald’s, Apple and many more released women empowerment campaigns and products.
Women’s history month originated in 1981 to highlight the contributions of women and events in history and contemporary society. For decades brands have leveraged this celebration to show their commitment to gender equality and to promote themselves by contributing to this celebration. However, this year some brands have been condemned for advertising in a way that’s considered “reductive” and people have turned to social media to express their concerns.
From inspiring to concerning, here’s a look at how some household brands are celebrating #InternationalWomensDay and #WomensHistoryMonth.
Mattel’s Barbie released a new line of dolls called “Inspiring Women” featuring female icons who have moved society by their bravery, activism, and accomplishments. Icons featured include Frida Kahlo, Amelia Earhart, Katherine Johnson and 11 other inspiring women.
Apple created a female empowerment section called “Bold Women” on iTunes and Apple Music stores making it easy for women to find inspiring content for women by women, including music, movies, TV shows, books, podcasts and more.
Nike aired a new commercial featuring Serena Williams where she speaks about her experience of being criticized for not being “the right kind of woman,” throughout her career. She also shares how she overcame that criticism and how she believes “there’s no wrong way to be a woman.”
BrewDog, a craft beer company, released a “beer for girls” called Pink IPA. The company is donating 20 percent of profits to organizations fighting gender inequality.
Facebook released its “Credit Her” campaign which highlights women from past to present who should be credited for their contributions. In addition, Facebook designed and released mobile-friendly women empowerment cards, photo frames, and backgrounds for users to upload and share.
For International Women’s Day, McDonald’s turned its golden arches and logo upside down across its digital and social media channels, supplied 100 restaurants and workers in the U.S. with specially branded garments and flipped its sign from M to W at one franchise in California.
With the national conversation turned movement of #MeToo, there seems to be an even larger focus this year on advocating for gender equality and parity. But is it appropriate for all brands to join in on this conversation and movement? And do you feel brands are doing their due diligence in assessing these campaigns for any disparities?
References
Cohen, D. (2018, March 8). Facebook’s Credit Her Campaign will debut on International
Women’s Day. Retrieved from:
http://www.adweek.com/digital/credit-her-campaign-will-debut-on-international-womens-day/
Detrick, A. (2018, March 5). ‘There’s No Wrong Way to Be a Woman:’ Serena Williams Stars in
Powerful Nike Ad for International Women’s Day. Retrieved from:
http://fortune.com/2018/03/05/serena-williams-nike-oscars/
Johnson, A. (2018, March 7). BRANDS EMBRACE WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH.
Retrieved from: http://www.earnshaws.com/2018/03/blog/brands-embrace-womens-history-month/
Taylor, K. (2018, March 8). McDonald’s is flipping its iconic arches upside down in an
unprecedented statement. Retrieved from:https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/310136
Wiener-Bronner, D. (2018, March 8).Why companies are embracing International Women’s Day.
Retrieved from:
http://money.cnn.com/2018/03/08/news/companies/international-womens-day-brands/index.html
Zilman, C. (2018, March 8). For brands celebrating International Women’s Day 2018,
inspirational messages aren’t enough anymore. Retrieved from:
http://fortune.com/2018/03/08/international-womens-day-2018-brands/
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