Khurpi
  • Home
  • Politics
  • Culture
  • Gender
  • Personal Features
Gender 5

Learn how you can sell without being sexist in 30 seconds

By Asiya Islam @asiyaislam · On May 20, 2014

Share on Facebook

Facebook

0Tweet about this on Twitter

Twitter

Share on LinkedIn

Linkedin

Pin on Pinterest

Pinterest

0

Sex sells. And so does sexual objectification of women. Which is why the advertising industry, in particular, is full of sexism and sexist stereotypes.

Cars are sold by placing scantily clad zero figure women next to them (and in some cases, by curvy women gagged up in the car boot with Silvio Berlusconi in the driving seat – shame on you, Ford). Then there’s the selling of ‘lady products’, such as hair removal creams, that shame women for not taking care of our stubble (I’m looking at you, Veet).

But one of the most frequently recurring images is that of the mother in domestic situations – the mother washing the clothes after the kids have a fun day at school, the mother frying pakoras and jalebis for the evening snack while managing to look good for the husband, the mother choosing Horlicks/Bournvita/Complan so her children grow up quicker and so on.

So, it is refreshing to come across the latest ‘Respect women’ advertisements by Havells Appliances in India which not only refuse such sexist stereotypes but turn them on their head. The appliances Havells are trying to sell – juicer, mixer, iron – all belong to the ‘domestic’ sphere. The target market for these domestic appliances is largely made up of women which says something in itself. But, quite cleverly, Havells have kept the conventional settings and changed the woman – it’s no more the traditional mother figure, say hello to the new woman who is articulate, clever and does not wait on her husband and children.

One such setting is that of a visit by prospective in-laws to arrange a marriage. The boy’s mother quips about her son who lives in USA, “Ek cup coffee ke liye bhi bahar jana padta hai.” (“He has to go out even for a cup of coffee.”) The implication, which is very common, is that he needs a wife to do this for him. The girl puts the Havells coffee maker in front of them and suggests that the boy settles with it – “No visa problems” – and adds, “Kya hai na aunty ji, I’m not a kitchen appliance.”

There are many more such delightful advertisements, including one in which the wife gives a steam iron to her husband when he complains about the state of his shirt. She says, “Ek general manager ye bhi nai kar sakta to kya sochenge employees?” (“If a general manager can’t even do this, what will the employees think of him?”)

I can’t decide which one is my favourite but I think the juicer advertisement is worth a mention too for showing a woman going out jogging after putting the juicer, a carrot and orange in front of her husband and his friend: “Hello, I’m his wife. He thinks I’m a kitchen appliance.”

These 30 seconds advertisements are brilliant for showing that sexism is not the only way to sell and that the women in the target market are no longer taking it lying down, so the strategy needs to change. Much as I’d like for these adverts to not be unusual, we know that sexism still prevails in advertising. One can only hope that these herald a wave for a new kind of advertising in India and elsewhere.

Share on Facebook

Facebook

0Tweet about this on Twitter

Twitter

Share on LinkedIn

Linkedin

Pin on Pinterest

Pinterest

0

advertisingmarketingmediasexismwomen
Asiya Islam

Asiya Islam

Asiya Islam is the Gender Editor of Khurpi. She takes pride in being a feminist and is angry with most things most of the time. She moved from Aligarh, India to London in 2009 for Master's in Gender, Media and Culture at the London School of Economics. After finishing her Master's in 2010, Asiya joined the equality and diversity team at LSE, where she continues to work. Asiya has written for The Guardian, the New Statesman and the Sunday Guardian.

You Might Also Like

  • Gender

    The Sexual Politics of Dupatta

  • Culture

    ‘Akira’ is a Well-Made Socially Relevant Film that Challenges Gender Stereotypes

  • Gender

    Dear America, Do You Want a President who Openly Condones Sexual Harassment and who Disrespects Your Martyrs?

Subscribe to Khurpi

Get Articles in your inbox, it's FREE

Recent Articles

  • Notes on lonliness and living through a pandemic
  • Notes on undoing academic elitism
  • Why is Secret Superstar problematic and yet commendable?
  • The Sexual Politics of Dupatta
  • More Embarrasment for Donald Trump
  • Home
  • About
  • Our Team
  • Write for us
  • Comments Policy

About Khurpi

At Khurpi, we say we dig deep into everything. We don’t believe in reading the surface but in deep analysis of what’s happening around us. We question at every step and focus on the solutions. Why politics is mired with cynicism today? Why ethnocultural identities prosper even in the age of globalisation? Why we continue to live in a gendered world where patriarchy is still very much the norm? Read more

Search the Site

Archives

  • November 2020
  • June 2019
  • December 2017
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014

Contributors

Sarwar Jahan Chowdhury
Surangama Guha

More

© 2014 Khurpi.com, Inc. All rights reserved.