Women make around 75 percent of all purchasing decisions, Badger added. But only 11 percent of advertising creative executives are female. The objectification of women in advertising is partly responsible for girls’ having body image issues at a young age, she said. “The average age of a little girl who goes on a diet is 7, and over 81 percent of 10-year-olds think they’re fat,” she said.
As ATTN: has noted before, Carl’s Jr. advertisements have gained a lot of attention in recent years for their highly sexual nature. Last year, the brand aired a commercial for its Tex Mex Bacon Thickburger, featuring a blonde with the word “Tex” on her bikini bottom and another woman with “Mex” plastered on her own bikini bottom. Because the two compete in a “Borderball” volleyball match, some accused the ad of being both racist and sexist.
ATTN: was able to talk to a former advertising employee anonymously and were told:
“I think, after a while, it kind of runs you down and makes you frustrated with the campaign. The content is hilarious, and even though it is sexist, it is pretty funny to spend your day writing double entendres. So I had a good experience, and I never felt put down because of my gender or as a woman. I never felt the team was being sexist at all, but one of the reasons I’m no longer there is I didn’t believe in the advertising I was making.”
“You’re not doing something that is empowering women or making the world a better place. It’s not something that’s sustainable as a feminist, and a lot of the women who work on it have a hard time with it.”
Deobjectifying women in commercials is a laudable thing, but somehow I just don’t see it happening.