Some years back, a woman in a yellow bikini sparked a change in British advertising regulations. She was posing on a weight loss ad in the Subway in between text that read, “Are you beach body ready?”
The people of London took offense at the idea of a one-size-fits-all “beach body,” and more than 70,000 people signed a petition to have the advertisements removed.
In response, the United Kingdom’s Advertising Standards Authority reviewed its regulations, finally changing them in December to ban all depictions of sexist stereotypes. It may sound like a win for women, but the rules will be difficult to qualify, and even harder to enforce.
A new rule banning harmful gender stereotypes in ads has come into force today. Ads must not include gender stereotypes that are likely to cause harm, or serious or widespread offence https://t.co/8rWvi3Q139 pic.twitter.com/AX0O6XtTki
— ASA (@ASA_UK) June 14, 2019
Under the new regulations, which went into effect last week, a company could get in trouble for showing a woman struggling to park a car, or a man floundering while changing a diaper, if the ad “depicts a man or a woman failing to achieve a task specifically because of their gender,” according to the ASA.
Other scenarios that the ASA describes as “likely to be problematic” include ads that contrast stereotypical personalities for males and females, ads that imply an ideal physique is standing in the way of a person’s success, and an “ad that depicts a man with his feet up and family members creating mess around a home while a woman is solely responsible for cleaning up the mess.”
Advertisements have a long history of perpetuating stereotypes. In her TED Talk, “The Dangerous Ways Ads See Women,” Jean Kilbourne says advertisements subconsciously affect their viewers, even at a very young age. “Babies at the age of six months can recognize corporate logos,” she says, “and that’s the age at which marketers are now starting to target our children.”
Yet the government shouldn’t try to downplay the role of advertising agencies in monitoring their own content. The ASA’s list of guidelines is long, but it could be even longer. How will it determine which ads go too far? Beth Egan, an associate professor of advertising at Syracuse University, told the New York Times that the ASA may find it difficult to distinguish “between what’s a gender stereotype and what’s a representation of real life in the real world.”
In the U.S., the government largely permits the free relationship between the advertiser and the consumers, who can speak out about advertisements they feel are harmful.
“Our history is more about consumer backlash and self-regulation than allowing a voice from on high to come down and just say, ‘You can’t,’” Egan said.
Time will tell how the regulations play out in the U.K., but it’s a good thing the U.S. hasn’t adopted any similar rules. Consumers are free to criticize ads they dislike, from Nike’s Colin Kaepernick endorsement to Gillette Venus’ promotion of an obese model.
But the government has neither the expertise nor the responsibility to monitor the effects of commercial advertisements. If consumers dislike an ad, they can still sign a petition. And advertisers, not the government, should pay attention.
