The Image of Women in Advertising Survey Results

Smart girls decide for themselves.™

January 3, 2002 

300 people (96 percent of whom were female) responded to our December 2001 survey about women and the advertising industry.   74 percent of the respondents were from the USA, 11 percent were from the United Kingdom, 8 percent were from Canada and the remaining 7 percent were from a variety of other countries around the world.

SmartGirl asked what makes an advertisement most memorable.

SmartGirl asked, “Have you ever bought a product because you wanted to be like the people represented in the advertisement?”  One third of the respondents said they had made a purchase due to its advertisement.  Two thirds said they had never bought an item based solely on its advertisement.

SmartGirl asked, “What is the most common portrayal of females in advertisements?”  The following frequency table (Table 1.3) summarizes the responses.  The first five responses are the choices SmartGirl offered.  The respondents generated the remaining responses.

SmartGirl asked you to respond the following statement:  “The female models in most advertisements are accurate representations of me or the women I know.”  Figure 1.1 represents the results.

  Figure 1.1

Over 80 percent of the respondents disagreed with the statement.

SmartGirl asked the same questions about men: “What is the most common portrayal of males in advertisements?” and “The male models in most advertisements are accurate representations of me or the women I know.”  Table 1.4 shows the results to the former question and Figure 1.2 graphically represents the results of the latter question.

Figure 1.2

Over 80 percent of the respondents disagreed with the statement.

SmartGirl asked, “Have you ever been embarrassed watching a commercial with your parents?”  53 percent of 287 respondents said they had been embarrassed watching a commercial, while 47 percent said they had not been embarrassed.  Here are some typical responses:

·         “Sometimes it's just weird viewing things with them.” (SmartGirl, age 16)

·        “My parents and I have a very open relationship nothing embarrasses me about commercials, movies, or TV” (SmartGirl, age 16)

·        “Commercials are commercials. They aren't art representing life, or whatever some people say. If people get embarrassed, they need to look at their relationship with their parents, not commercials.” (SmartGirl, age 13)

·        “I don't like watching advertisements which show girls my age in sexually provocative situations.  It makes me feel like my parents might associate me with the girl in the advertisement, which is uncomfortable and most of the time, inaccurate.” (SmartGirl, age 20)

·        “I t seems like every time one of the anti-drug or abstinence commercials comes on, I get grilled.” (SmartGirl, age 16)

·        "Commercials with teen girls in them who're acting like complete ditzes always make my parents ask me if do that sort of thing with my friends, etc. and the pop dolls (n*sync, britney spears) -- my 'rents always wanna know if I want them. I guess I’m not so much embarrassed by the commercial as the fact that my parents actually think I would ever want any of those things.” (SmartGirl, age 14)

·        “They show teens in a negative stereotypical light that causes society to place labels.... i.e., all teens like/look/act like that.” (SmartGirl, age 17)\

·        “I don't feel that I am responsible for what is shown in ads on TV, so I have not been embarrassed.  I have been disgusted by ads, however.” (SmartGirl, age 16)

·        “Commercials about feminine care are embarrassing because it’s still a taboo and private subject.  I think its equally embarrassing for parents.” (SmartGirl, age 17)

·        “No, ‘Cause I don't watch TV with them” (SmartGirl, age 13)

SmartGirl asked, “How many times have advertisements inspired or empowered you?”

Figure 1.3

SmartGirl asked, “Can you think of an advertisement that is inspiring to girls?  Why?”  Roughly a third of the respondents didn’t answer this question.  Of the remaining two thirds, the most popular categories were:

·        None (41%)

·        Health and Beauty Ads (11 %)

·        Nike’s “If you let me play…” Ads (7%)

·        Public Service Ads [anti-drug, anti-smoking, etc.] (5%)

Here are some typical responses:

• “No.  Most of the ads are about how to be pretty/popular.  I can't say that's not what most girls strive for (it's not a bad thing).  So the ad companies are advertising for the customer but being pretty/popular is not inspiring to me.  I don't look to commercials to be inspiring.  Who would?” (SmartGirl, age 18)
  

• “A couple years ago, Nike had a magazine advertisement that showed girls with text surrounding it, saying "If you let me play..." following by things such as "I will be more outgoing", "I will be less likely to get breast cancer", or "I will be less likely to get pregnant as a teenager".  Those were wonderful ads because they encouraged girls to get out and play sports instead of sitting with Barbies and other toys that advocate submissive feminism.” (SmartGirl, age 18)
  

• “Advertisements are just tools to sell products. I don't think that something like that can be inspiring to girls, unless they are the sort of girls who live to shop.” (SmartGirl, age 15)

• “No. Most advertisements that would potentially *inspire* girls are all about flawless anorexic girls.” (SmartGirl, age 15)
  

• “No.  Nearly all the adverts I can think of portray girls as nothing but clichéd teenagers.” (SmartGirl, age 16)
  

• “This one that has women’s basket ball and there are guy cheerleaders and they are singing, “It’s a Women World” It show how powerful women can be!” (SmartGirl, age 13)
  

• “I love the Kodak one time use camera add with the song "Why Can't We Be Friends?" playing in the background. I love how this girl who is obviously very different takes pictures of all the different people in her school and puts them together, showing everyone how even though they are different they can work together. I think it’s really cool that they showed a "punk" and a "prep" together. I think we should cross the social boundaries more often.” (SmartGirl, age 16)
  

SmartGirl asked, “Describe an advertisement that you've seen that depicts women as sex objects, as passive, or as weak.”  Over a third of the survey takers didn’t respond to this question.  Of those who did, 22% said they couldn’t think of any or didn’t think there were any such ads.  The rest of the responses included:

• Cleaning products ads showing women in submissive roles (8%)

• Victoria’s Secret ads showing women in sexualized roles (12%)

• Beer and alcohol ads showing women as sex objects (7%)

• Fashion ads showing women in sexualized roles (7%)

SmartGirl asked what you thought the phrase “sex sells” means.  Here as some typical responses:

• “[‘Sex sells’ means] that certain people are more likely to pay attention to advertisements which feature suggestions of sexual acts or women in provocative poses.” (SmartGirl, age 15)
  

• “’Sex sells’ means that in order for something to appeal to the corrupt human mind it has to have some worldly influence - normally sex because its what a lot of peoples minds revolve around whether they admit it or not!” (SmartGirl, age 14)
  

• “I don’t know I am just 9 ½.” (SmartGirl, age 9)
  

• “Does it mean that you're trying to sell something by making it sound like the opposite sex will be more attracted to you? Or they use hidden messages that make you think about sex? I don't know.” (SmartGirl, age 14)
  

• “The phrase means exactly what it says. If you see a sexy woman that looks so awesome with a certain type of makeup, for instance, you will want that. Or if a man looks incredibly hot after shaving with a certain razor, guys will want that. It doesn't necessarily mean 'sex'.” (SmartGirl, age 13)
  

• “It means that if a sexy woman with blonde hair and big breasts is drinking beer on the television then people will probably buy it.”(SmartGirl, age 14)
  

• “[’Sex sells’ means] having a commercial or radio ad that is sexy, or revealing, or dirty in some way makes the viewer/listener think that if they use this product, they'll be just as sexy as the person in the ad.” (SmartGirl, age 15)
  

• “[’Sex sells’ means] guys like girls and girls like guys. A cute guy will attract a girl's attention and vise versa.” (SmartGirl, age 19)
  

• “Advertisers have taken sex and used it for their own ends.  Sex used to be a private and special thing between a man and woman in love. They have taken it and ruined the meaning behind it.” (SmartGirl, age 15)

SmartGirl asked, “Do you agree with the slogan "sex sells?”? See Figure 1.4 for the results.

Figure 1.4

SmartGirl asked, “Advertisements in magazines help keep the cost of magazines low for you, the consumer. Would you be willing to pay more for a magazine that did not have any advertisements in it?”  Table 1.4 shows the results below.

SmartGirl asked, “If you worked for an advertising company and that company was about to put out an advertisement that made women seem weak, would you speak out against it?”  Figure 1.5 below shows the results.

Figure 1.5

Here are some typical SmartGirl comments justifying their responses:

• “[Yes, I’d speak out] because women aren't weak, they can be very strong and to prove that to the company that I was working for I would speak out against it and prove that women aren't weak.” (SmartGirl, age 17)
  

• “[Yes, I’d speak out] because its not fair for women to look bad at from the extensive stupidity of men and just because they are bigger physically and politically than women does NOT mean that we are under them in and way shape or form because there are women that can do things men could never dream of doing plus all the things men can do.” (SmartGirl, age 13)
  

• “[Yes, I’d speak out] ‘cause I’m getting sick of this bulls*** about women being physically weaker than men.  I just broke the bench press record for my high school.” (SmartGirl, age 15)

 

• [No I would not speak out because] “It’s just a dumb advertisement. Next week I’ll just put one out with men being the weak ones.” (SmartGirl, age 16)
  

• [No I would not speak out because] “although I don't think it's right, I think that women should be able to look other places in their lives for enough self-confidence not to be affected by ads.  Live is tough for both sexes: in every ad where there is one spouse who is supposed to be confused or childish, it's the man (example: "Sears" ads, "Circuit City" ads where the man is presented as a child).  Although the ad may be demeaning to women, I think it's part of life to get used to that.  Ads are not the be-all and end-all of sexual discrimination, it comes from people too, and we shouldn't pretend that it doesn't exist in real life as well as in print.  Real life sexual discrimination needs to be taken care of first.” (SmartGirl, age 16)

 

• “I don't know if I would or not.  It depends if my job depended on it, and HOW bad the ad actually was.  I may speak to a different coworker, but if my job would become jeopardized, I probably would not.” (SmartGirl, age 18)

 

• “Yes, [I’d speak out against it.]  It is not right to portray women in that way, and I am stubborn and pig-headed and I would speak out against it.” (SmartGirl, age 16)
  

Lastly, SmartGirl asked, “If you were the president of a large advertising firm and one of your largest accounts wanted to produce an advertisement that depicted women being physically attacked, what would you do?”  

• Over half of the respondents said that they would not produce the advertisement even if it meant they would have to give up the account and lose the money. 

“I would tell the customer that I could not produce the advertisement they asked for and work with them to produce something more effective and positive.” (SmartGirl, Age 25)

“I would tell them that I am not interested in their business unless they choose to remove that element from their advertisement; PERIOD.” (SmartGirl, age 14)

“I would seriously think about the actions of the company I was working for was doing.  I would ask my employees if they thought the account was worth keeping to them since women were being physically attacked on an advertisement for the company.  I would wonder if we should support them and do business with them.  Probably in 9 out of 10 of the situations I would make the executive decision to not do business with them even though they are one of my advertising firm's biggest accounts.  There are always more businesses for me to advertise for.” (SmartGirl, age 15)

• Others said they’d take the money and run.

“I would focus on the money, and think positive.” (SmartGirl, age17)

• Others said that it depended on the context of the advertisement.  It might be an anti-violence ad or a personal protection product ad (e.g. pepper spray).

“It depends on circumstances if it was aimed at women speaking out against violence I would be all for it” (SmartGirl, age 18)

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with us!