Feminism in advertising: Irony or revolution? A critical review of femvertising

There is an increasing presence of ‘femvertising’ in the media; an advertising style that highlights women’s talents, centers themes on pro-woman messaging and counters stereotyping. However, no systematic attempt has been made to establish the reasons leading to its increasing social acceptance. This article identifies the major factors leading to femvertising: (1) growing activism around the better representation of women in advertising; (2) brand activism and conscious capitalism; (3) the criticism of corporate and commodity feminism; (4) increasing awareness of gender stereotyping; (5) and increasing scrutiny by regulatory bodies on gender role representations in advertising. We conclude that femvertising is a phenomenon resulting from the combined effect of the five factors above. We propose that future studies in femvertising should address the remaining issues of lack of authenticity, dilution of feminist discourse, interconnection with social movements as well as linkages to increased representation of women in advertising, both to construct a full picture of the current state of femvertising and to understand its future configuration in a shifting social and ideological environment.