February 7, 2012
Posted by Carlotta Stankiewicz
An Open Letter from Carlotta to Barb Rechterman, Chief Marketing Officer of Go Daddy, and Laurie McCartney, Chief Marketing Officer of Teleflora
Laurie McCartney
Barb Rechterman
Dear Barb and Laurie,
Like both of you, I’m a woman who works in advertising and marketing.
Like both of you, I’m also a mother.
I have two daughters, ages 12 and 14. I watched the Super Bowl with my younger girl Sunday night. And when your “Body Paint” and “Valentine’s Night” commercials played, I felt a mix of anger, confusion and sadness.
Anger, because (as many have noted) your commercials were blatantly sexist, trading on women’s bodies and sexuality to sell your products/services.
Confusion, because I wasn’t sure how to discuss these things with the pre-teen girl at my side.
And sadness, because I felt momentarily hopeless for the girls and boys like her – and like your own children – who will soon try to find their way in a society that promotes such harmful attitudes toward women.
Barb, your commercial showed a woman’s naked body being painted with your logo and copy points, thus turned into a billboard – a dehumanized object.
Laurie, your ad treats love as a transaction, where flowers become payment for sex from a woman, an object to be used for the man’s pleasure.
Your ads aren’t sexy. They’re sexist. Here are just a few reasons why that’s bad.
- A 2011 study from the University of Buffalo reports that media featured “10 times more hypersexualized images of women than men between the 1960′s and 2009.” The authors also conclude that “Sexualized portrayals of women have been found to legitimize or exacerbate violence against women and girls, as well as sexual harassment and anti-women attitudes among men and boys.”
- Michael Flood, a researcher at Australia’s LaTrobe University, also reports that “Men who agree with sexist, patriarchal, or sexually hostile attitudes are much more likely than other men to assault women.”
- According to this 2011 Princeton University study, “sexualized women were perceived as having the least control over their own lives.”
- Objectification has been linked to mood and eating disorders in women, according to this study published in the 2004 British Journal of Clinical Psychology.
Thankfully, your sexist commercials aren’t going uncriticized, and there’s been a backlash in social media, including hundreds of tweets Sunday night featuring the hashtag #NotBuyingIt. Many were from website owners who had pulled their registration and hosting from Go Daddy. I can only hope that men and women alike will order their Valentine’s bouquets from florists not affiliated with Teleflora.
Super Bowl XLVI drew an average of 113 million viewers – 46 percent of them women, who are more likely to watch the commercials than men. Your companies missed an opportunity not only to show positive role models for girls and boys and men and women, but also to make a positive impression on the 51 million women watching your ads – the very consumers who are responsible for making 85% of household purchase decisions.
Although yours weren’t the only offending ads, there were plenty of Super Bowl commercials that didn’t stoop to sexism to grab attention. I firmly believe that you can do the same.
As a marketer, I urge you to do it for your business.
As a mom, I urge you to do it for your children.
Sincerely,
Carlotta
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11 Comments
February 7, 2012
Yes!
February 7, 2012
Fist to the chest, Carlotta. I’m blown away that the CMO of GoDaddy is a woman.
And huge kudos to GSDM for publishing what so many agency people are only whispering in the hallways.
February 7, 2012
Word! Great letter, Carlotta.
Just changed my domain this morning. And tweeted about Telewhora.
I firmly believe more women in advertising will reverse this trend, but it’s disheartening that some women who’ve achieved power are missing the mark entirely.
February 7, 2012
Well said!
February 7, 2012
Really? The whole “think about the children” thing?
You absolutely have the right to be offended just as I have the right not to care that you’ve taken offense. I doubt very seriously that this self-important, “Look at me! I have an opinion!” blog post will change the marketing at those companies or any others that you didn’t list. (Toyota, H&M, Kia, etc, etc, etc)
And what is “sexist” really? Who gets to define it? You? Isn’t more sexist to think that *you* should decide how other women should act than it is to let them do what *they* want to do?
So sick of other women telling me what’s appropriate or how I should behave. Strangely enough, I rarely have men try to judge me in that way.
Just my 2c.
February 8, 2012
Well said. Bravo! Women sacrificed and fought so hard for respect and fair treatment in this country and we have watched as media has objectified women even more than we the fight began. If you glance at Teleflora’s youtube channel you will clearly see how that one commercial drew the attention of extreme perverts.
February 8, 2012
You are certainly entitled to your opinion — and obviously you have a strong one. Your points are structurally sound, and clearly from a feminist viewpoint. But I’m surprised you didn’t continue your rant, using the David Beckham underwear super bowl ad as just one example of how this ancient river flows both ways.
Isn’t it true that advertisers who seek appeal (and direct sales) from women, and who also strive to connect with the average man who himself aspires to be appealing to the fairer sex,have forever used the age-old strategy of using libido-charged images of muscled-up males, with 2% body fat, and blessed with look and a physique worthy of a GQ spread or bad-boy biker poster? So speaking of objectifying — I’ve never encountered a man — close friend or stranger — who has complained about being exploited in advertising targeting women who respond with their pocketbooks, or relational endorsements…to ads that give women a momentary sexual buzz — that hopes to associate with a brand.
How about we all just agree that amidst the myriad of advertising messaging strategies at the disposal of marketers and their agencies..that sex…for some reason and forever…has been at least one proven successful approach toward selling product that carries aspirational personal image or feel-good improvement promise. From cars to underwear, watches to hairstyles, sunglasses to cologne, burgers to beer — the gender-spanning examples are endless.
February 8, 2012
Well put, Carlotta. Oh and @Kat – “Telewhora” – nice!
February 8, 2012
Go Carlotta Go!! Thank you!
February 9, 2012
No, it does not work both ways! Your point was pointless! David Beckham’s commercial was completely different. He is selling underwear, which is what he is showing, and he is the designer, so as not to be confused with your comment ” libido-charged images of muscled-up males, with 2% body fat, and blessed with look and a physique worthy of a GQ spread”, that was pure coincidence.
February 9, 2012
Welcome to the bandwagon. There are so many other value centric hosting companies that are worthy of our business. Here’s my take on it — http://www.aslowerpace.net/?p=1649
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