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US Initiative★Advertising Association of America and Major Advertisers Tackle Gender Bias at White House Request
According to Ad Age, the initiative began after five months of preparation with the White House and discussions with over 50 companies participating in the inaugural "U.S. Women's Summit" held at the White House in mid-June.
The White House expressed particular concern about the lag in women's advancement in STEM fields—Science, Technology, Engineering, and Medicine. Stephen Quinn, CMO of Walmart and AFE Chairman, analyzed, "This is influencing how women are portrayed in media."
Through this project, ANA aims to achieve a 20% improvement in the "accurate representation of women and girls" in media by 2020. While AFE has primarily focused on improving representations in content, including television programs, this initiative prioritizes advertising—an area where advertisers can directly exert influence.
As part of the initiative, ANA has begun analyzing campaigns from its board member advertisers. Using a data tracking system called the Gender Equality Measure (GEM), it evaluates ads and programs that support women and girls. The most outstanding ads and content are then featured on the #SeeHer website and showcased at major industry events.
Quinn states, "Much of this happens unconsciously." For example, research shows that using a female voiceover increases effectiveness by 3%, yet two-thirds of the ads studied actually used male voices. "That's precisely why ANA wants to encourage advertisers to be more conscious. By evaluating content like programs, we also aim to enable proper matching between advertisers and programs."
Cases like Unilever's Dove "Real Beauty" campaign show that ads ranking highly on GEM metrics also demonstrated the strongest advertising effectiveness. Since the project's launch, some advertisers have begun modifying their campaigns accordingly.
ANA CEO Bob Rioydeis emphasized, "Accurately representing women improves advertising effectiveness. It's also effective from a business perspective. And above all, it's the right thing to do." Unilever's Vice President of Media and Digital, Gail Tiford, expressed her determination: "We must show our daughters that if they try hard, they can achieve their dreams."
ANA Moves to Eliminate Bias Against Women From Ads and Media
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