Feminism for sale: a content analysis of local and international advertisements that use commodity feminism

Abstract

In 2004, Dove launched the Campaign for Real Beauty. Instead of overtly selling the product itself, Dove's strategy was to create a campaign that was anchored on beauty and women's self-esteem. The campaign was so successful that not long after, many companies adapted this new strategy of using feminist or pro-women issues as the themes of their advertisements. This is called Commodity Feminism or femvertising. This qualitative study analyzed the Commodity Feminism phenomenon. The study was guided by the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) of Richard Petty and John Cacioppo and the Genderlect Syles of Deborah Tannen. A content analysis of thirty-six advertisements from three local and three international brands was conducted. All the advertisements were purposively sampled. The advertisements were analyzed depending on (1) Characters' Language and Communication Style, (2) Popularity and Success, and (3) Impact and Effect on the Reputation of the brand. Language and genderlect that appeal to females were determined. The convergence of the peripheral and central routes of processing was explained and described. Connection between the ads and their online views was established and explained. The advantages and disadvantages of this kind of advertising were presented. The results of this study is significant to the academic community, consumers, companies, marketing and advertising agencies, as well as feminism advocates. Advocates of feminism can look at Commodity Feminism as an aid in powering their advocacy or they may view it as a non-beneficial action that only helps their advocacy on the surface level.