Give me examples of problematic advertising images

April 24, 2024 7:39 PM

As part of a discussion/awareness raising group, I'm going to be facilitating an exercise examining problematic advertising (from an equality or social justice perspective) . Think sexism, racist imagery, reinforcing gender norms, etc. I'm looking for more recent examples, from anywhere in the world. They need to be able to be printed and handed out (so no video). Overt or subtle welcome. If you'd rather not post it here, feel free to memail me. Examples below the fold

Beach Body Ready
Dove
Victoria's Secret "Perfect Body"

I'm aware of shEqual and critical media project

posted by Gorgik to Society & Culture (17 answers total)

I cannot even start with those Lume deodorant (because vaginas are stinky) ads.
posted by brookeb at 8:19 PM on April 24 [2 favorites]

And the reviews of The Bic Pens for Her on Amazon are a must read.
posted by brookeb at 8:22 PM on April 24 [1 favorite]

Terry Richardson shot ads for Equinox (a high-end gym chain) in 2012 that were complete bullshit. There was controversy and he was eventually replaced.
posted by minervous at 8:37 PM on April 24

Tom Ford's fragrance ads (also shot by Terry Richardson) were pretty controversial at the time, iirc. There are a few other controversial ads (Marc Jacobs, Calvin Klein, and Tom Ford for Gucci, Tom Ford for Yves Saint Laurent) on that page as well.
posted by VirginiaPlain at 9:11 PM on April 24

PETA's "Got Autism?" ad campaign reinforces harmful stereotypes of autism as a "tragedy". Statement from the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network.
posted by heatherlogan at 9:14 PM on April 24 [2 favorites]

American Apparel may have more print ads to draw from, but the owner got booted and started Los Angeles Apparel, which has had the gross ad baton firmly passed to it.
posted by furnace.heart at 9:25 PM on April 24

Skin lightening creams are notorious for this. Racism, sexism, classism, colonialism, I think it's got all of the - isms. That's just one example.

Nothing like a little casual sexism in children's clothing ads.
posted by fiercekitten at 10:03 PM on April 24

I've always felt uneasy about the way the Dutch chain Rituals exoticizes the people and trivializes the rituals from the cultures that it "gets its inspiration from" (random example that is currently advertized on the main page of the site).
posted by rjs at 10:21 PM on April 24

Ms. magazine has had a regular No Comment page since its inception.
posted by brujita at 10:33 PM on April 24 [2 favorites]

The notorious Australian cheese brand, changed in 2020(!)
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 10:50 PM on April 24

This fka twigs advert for Calvin Klein was banned for presenting her as a stereotypical sexual object, then unbanned.
posted by Klipspringer at 10:53 PM on April 24

From Canada:

• (Football team) Saskatchewan Roughriders “Girl Math” ads
• LG Canada gender stereotype washing machine ads
• City of Regina rebrand gone wrong

posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 10:55 PM on April 24

Sony's infamous billboard ad released in the Netherlands in summer 2006 (and subsequently pulled from wider release after backlash) for their then-new ceramic white-coloured PlayStation Portable game console, featuring a white woman forcefully grasping a black woman by the jaw.
posted by Calysma at 11:39 PM on April 24

All over Asia whitening cosmetics or really any cosmetic with a brightening/light effect. So so much racism and colourism.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 12:03 AM on April 25

There are plenty of car ads on TV that I find objectionable. Cars tearing up a desert or going too fast, or parking absurdly close to a precipice. I don't notice many print ads for cars, Bit i'm sure there are some bad ones out there.
posted by SemiSalt at 4:36 AM on April 25

It's about 20 years old but I sitll vividly remember the backlash to the beer ad stereotyping Latinas.
posted by TwoStride at 6:00 AM on April 25

In Chile, the Santiago Metro recently had a campaign for March 8, international women's day, talking about the 'measures' they were taking to improve their female workers' lives, illustrated with shots of women's crotches, thighs, and belly buttons with rulers. It was taken down after a day.

https://www.cnnchile.com/pais/campana-metro-dia-de-la-mujer-criticas_20240307/
posted by signal at 7:06 PM on April 25