Interesting Things

Gender Stereotypes in Advertising:  A conversation with Maria Diaz

By: Ana St. John

Advertising campaigns have reinforced and even promoted gender stereotypes throughout the years. Now the perspective is different; the industry is in the process of a change. The award winner advertiser and art director Maria Jose Diaz explained what is causing this transformation. 

According to Maria, a few years ago, successful campaigns were created thinking specifically about selling products and highlighting the male point of view because of their financial role in the household, while women were only in charge of taking care of the home and the family. 

Female stereotypes have existed in the advertisement of most products, from clothes, toys, and home appliances to cleaning products. They were majorly due to the perception of the role women must play in society and to the low participation of females in advertising campaigns and leadership roles in the industry.

The advertising expert mentioned that the best examples are cleaning brands because they always portray women in charge of the house duties as if these were exclusive to them. This reality has generated feminine stereotypes throughout the years, sexualizing the female body, and even though it is still happening, it is also losing its impact. 

“Change of behavior is coming from outside of the industry, not from the inside” the advertiser highlighted.

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Before, advertising used to create trends, but now we see audiences jumping in through social media, setting the tone and demanding change because now they can provide direct feedback.

“A brand can’t use a campaign that reinforces gender stereotypes and get away with it because social media will come in. Cancel culture does not only happen to people brands could also suffer from it.” the advertiser highlighted.

The advertiser has also worked on different campaigns that challenge gender stereotypes, one of them is the campaign “We won’t wait” a student campaign with Levi’s to diminish potty parity she worked with Art Director Aditi Sobti and Copywrite Molly Baraff. 

Maria Diaz also reinforced that supporting and encouraging women in creative positions will generate radical transformation because female-to-female support in the industry plays a role in overthrowing gender stereotypes. Advertising is more than a marketing strategy it is an agent of change.

Indian Film Festival Stuttgart : Advertising TVC Competition

Call for entries 

First competition for advertising film / TVC in Stuttgart

The 19th Indian Film Festival Stuttgart will be expanded this year to include the section of commercial films / TVC. For the first time, there will be a competition for the German Star of India in the TV Commercial category.

Producers and agencies can submit clips to the Film Festival in Stuttgart until July 6, 2022.

Click here for the entry form.

You will find all important information on the submission form. Please send the submissions to programm@filmbuerobw.de

Information about the Indian Film Festival Stuttgart can be found on the website www.indian-filmfestival.com.

19Th Indian Film Festival Stuttgart 2022

Standing up for plastic: Self-rising chair foretells a rise in the use of recycled plastic

Standing up for plastic: Self-rising chair foretells a rise in the use of recycled plastic

Ever since the 1950’s plastic has been a key material in design. However, for the past decade the industry has been misdirected to discuss reducing the use of plastic – when focus should in fact go to increasing its recycling rate. Therefore Fortum, a forerunner in recycled plastic compounds, has developed a self-rising chair made of recycled plastic. By picking itself up without robotics, the chair represents plastic’s comeback as a sustainable material.

To demonstrate what recycled plastics can do, Fortum has developed a chair made from Fortum Circo® recycled plastic produced from post-consumer plastic waste. The self-rising Virén Chair is inspired by Lasse Virén, a Finnish long-distance runner who fell in the middle of the 10,000-metre final in the Munich Olympics. The odds were not in his favour, but he got up, won gold, and set a new world record. 

“The story of Lasse Virén – and especially his legendary win in the Munich Olympics – is still inspiring for many of us. Our ambition was to honour comebacks, progression and resilience through the Virén Chair and to show what can be achieved with recycled plastics today. Furthermore, the Virén Chair pays respect to Finnish design with characteristics of plastic furniture developed in the 1960s by Finnish designers,” says Jussi Mälkiä, Brand Manager at Fortum.

The chair has been developed together with a variety of professionals from engineers to physicists and researchers. Fortum’s creative partner behind the idea is TBWA\Helsinki and the prototype has been 3D printed together with Maker3D. 

“Honoring the running legend Lasse Virén was very present at all stages of our design process. We wanted the chair to reflect his legacy with a design that is both aerodynamic and organic and takes its inspiration from running motion. When taking a closer look at the chair and more specifically the legs, one can distinguish a form of a runner preparing to take off from the starting line”, explains Umberto Onza, Lead Designer of the chair from TBWA\Helsinki.  

Fortum as a forerunner in creating recycled plastic compounds

By 2019 only 9% of the plastic waste ever generated had been recycled, and in 2019 only 14% was collected for recycling (source: UNEP). The real problem lies in the deficient waste management systems, not the plastic material itself.

“Plastic is in many ways a superior material that is hard to substitute. The consumption of plastic is growing globally all the time; the discussion around plastics should instead focus on how to increase recycling. We should make sure that the value of the material is preserved by recycling the plastic and converting the waste into reusable material whenever possible,” says Anniina Rasmus, Brand Sales Manager at Fortum Recycling and Waste.

Fortum wants to expand the use of recycled plastics by developing recycled plastic compounds. In this process the qualities of the recycled plastic are enhanced so that the compounds can be used for products that are more technical and challenging in terms of production, of which the Virén Chair is a good example.

“The Virén Chair is made from Fortum Circo® recycled plastic compound reinforced with cellulose fibre to strengthen the material and reduce its carbon footprint. The carbon footprint of Fortum Circo® recycled plastic is about half that of virgin plastics. The added cellulose fibre, originating from renewable sources, also absorbs carbon, further reducing the carbon footprint of the material,” Rasmus points out.

Digital Campaign for Fathers’ Day by 22FeetTribal

Agency: 22feet Tribal Worldwide
Client: TTK Prestige
National Creative Director: Debashish Ghosh
Group Creative Director ; Janardhan Nataraj
Group Creative Director: Mansoor Jamal
Creative Director: Balamurugan Subramaniam
Creative Director: Maitri Ramkumar
Group Creative Partner: Tejas Phansekar

Illustrator : Chaitanya Limaye
Creative Partner: Devika Bakshi
Copywriter :C. B. Akhilesh
Creative Partner: Vineeth Mavally
Account Director: Neha Shaw
Client Services Director: Ankita Mitra
Account manager: Arjuna Inbanathan
Content Cluster Head: Samarth Ahluwalia

Goose Droppings In Beer Brewing : TBWA Helsinki

Goose droppings in beer brewing – this Finnish city takes sustainability communications to the next level

This summer Finns can drink beer brewed with wild herbs, food waste and even goose poop. The new beers by a local microbrewery Ant Brew celebrate their hometown’s turn as European Green Capital and promote an important message of a wasteless circular economy. The Wasted Potential beer series has already gained attention both in Finland and abroad.

The Finnish city of Lahti is known for their pioneering environmental action, and for their open-minded co-operation with locals. Now the European Green Capital 2021 joins forces with the local microbrewery Ant Brew by crafting a new beer series. The Wasted Potential beers are brewed with wild herbs, local food waste, like bread, berries, and fruits – and even goose droppings.

The poop is used in a food-safe way to smoke malt to create a unique stout beer. The goose droppings are gathered from local parks, where geese are causing a messy problem. Now, the local parks get cleaner and the special edition summer beverages are perfect for a picnic in the park – a true two birds with one stone type of solution.

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RecordCast : Free Screen Recording and Video Editing

RecordCast is an all in one tool for screen recording and video editing that helps everyone create professional looking videos starting from recording the screenshot in just a matter of a few minutes.

You can cut a clip from your video quickly and make it far more dynamic with the combination of dynamic text and background music. With RecordCast, you can record online courses and lectures; record video tutorials; present remote remote study; improve your business communication, etc.


HIGHLIGHTED FEATURES

• Completely free of charge.
• Record your computer screen with webcam easily.
• Control your video clips and photos easily on a clean storyboard.
• Split your videos with powerful tools.
• Combine or merge multiple videos and photos into one single video.
• Many handpicked text animations at your fingertips.
• Edit text color, font, size, alignment, etc. quickly.
• Place a logo to anywhere of a video.
• Drag a favorite background music to the video.
• Save your video under your account for further editing.
• Video output resolution options include 480P, 720P, and 1080P.

Monetise Your Influence

A workshop on influencer marketing and monetisation.

How to become an Online Influencer and be able to monetise the same.

With Takesh Singh, Actor, Producer and Marketeer

Monetize your content creation skills to become an online influencer for brands, and individuals across You Tube, Facebook and Instagram. Learn the simple tips and tricks to put you on track for your influencer journey.

Register here:
https://www.townscript.com/e/monetise-your-influence-211002

A 40 minute Zoom Video Session followed by 20 minutes of Q/A.

The Zoom Link and password will be sent one hour before the workshop on November 29, 2020. Make sure you check your emails.

Brought to you by KissFilms and DesiShoots

Air “Bee and Bee” – this is the largest insect hotel village in the world : TBWA Helsinki

What if bees had their own Airbnb? The largest insect hotel village in the world.

Finnish school kids built the world’s largest insect hotel village in their local town. The hotels
provide shelter for important pollination insects that are in decline around the world.

Pollinating insects are in decline, and some insect species are facing the threat of extinction.

A world without bees would be a world without coffee, apples, potatoes, strawberries, carrots – and much more. That’s because up to 75% of all of our food crops depend on pollination one way or another.

And it’s not just the bees that are in decline. Living habitats that the pollinators prefer are also in decline as meadows and flower fields have been turned into building lots for city-planning.

That’s why a Finnish electricity distribution company saw untapped potential in their land use. In Finland the land is released for better use when the air cable lines are moved underground because of the cold and snowy weather conditions. And so, the idea of an insect hotel village came to be.

“We wanted to do something for nature and bring joy to local school children. First, we planted flower seeds on one of our worksites. Then we provided building materials for the local schools, so the kids could learn about the importance of pollinating insects and plan their own village for the bees”, says the Head of Customer Relations of the electricity distribution company Caruna, Katriina Kalavainen.

One hundred hotels for pollinators – a light-hearted approach with serious benefits

The kids were enthusiastic about the project and the local schools wanted to take part as soon as they heard of it. The kids built over a 100 insect hotels and styled the hotels according to their own artistic vision.

The insect hotel village provides shelter as days get colder and the bees look for a perfect spot for winter hibernation. Next spring the bees will wake up from their Air Bee n’ Bees ready for a new season.

See what the kids came up with from the pictures and the video below.

Connect4Climate : Tackling Fashion Industry’s Carbon Emissions

The brief of the project was to empower meaningful behavioural change towards a sustainable lifestyle among the 16-25 yer olds with the help of Connect4Climate.

The area I focused on was how fast fashion is a growing concern and to merely be a part of a social lifestyle, our consumption patterns have caused an unprecedented situation. 16-25-year-olds today want to look new every day, wearing the latest trends, uploading a photograph on Instagram tagged with #OOTD (outfit of the day). All of this has not only led to increased consumption of fast fashion but also a huge wastage, degrading the environment.
Instagram filters and stickers are a part of our everyday living now. #ReOOTD is a campaign to encourage Gen Z to reduce their consumption patterns by involving them in an activation campaign whereby they use the Rewear Challenge filter, challenging them to rewear an item of clothing everyday in the month of December. The challenge however is started by fashion bloggers increasing the awareness of the campaign. The campaign also includes animated stickers that people can use to make their stories interesting. This campaign was also taken live and done on a small scale.

This project won the D&AD New Blood Awards 2020 and The Wood Pencil.

Project Credits:
Art Director & Copywriter : Nithika Romy

Vogue Spec Work by Miami Ad School

Advertised brand: Teen Vogue + The Case For Her
Advertising School: Miami Ad School, Mumbai + Miami Ad School, Mexico City
Art Directors: Catarina Barcala, Xavi Ocana, Hanna Choi
Copywriter: Palak Kapadia
Synopsis: Open conversation about female pleasure is taboo in cultures around the world. So much so that in UK, it’s only visual evidence – squirting or female ejaculation – is banned from porn. For better or for worse, porn is the main source of sex-ed for many and censoring something so natural makes women feel insecure about their own bodies. With Too Sexy For UK, Teen Vogue and The Case For Her hijack nature to express just how natural female ejaculation is and help women reclaim their own sexual pleasure.