“Gender-related controversies” are one of the main causes of backlash in advertising and other media.
As societal attitudes continue to change rapidly, we often see cases where media portrayals of women and men are out of touch with society or contain inappropriate expressions, leading to major controversies.
We will discuss the causes and real-world examples of gender-related controversies that companies should be aware of, as well as how to address them.
1. What is a gender-related controversy?
A “gender-related controversy,” as the name suggests, is a controversy that arises from a lack of gender consideration, such as expressions or inappropriate remarks that reflect prejudice or preconceptions about gender .
While awareness of diverse values is growing worldwide and legal reforms are progressing, gender inequality still exists in many societies, which is why such controversies often arise in corporate advertising and on social media.
1-1. The negative impact of gender-related controversies on companies
Gender-related controversies can have various negative consequences for companies, such as the following:
If a gender-related controversy erupts, a decline in user perception is almost inevitable.
This could lead to customer attrition, boycotts , and other direct negative impacts on sales.
Furthermore, various risks that could affect business operations are also possible, such as losing the trust of business partners and having transactions terminated, or a decrease in job seekers making it difficult to secure talented personnel.
2. Main patterns of gender-related online controversies and actual examples of such controversies
To understand gender-related controversies, let’s first look at the main patterns and causes of such controversies.
2-1. Expressions that contain gender role stereotypes
First, there are expressions that include fixed notions of gender roles , such as “housework is a woman’s job.”
While traditional gender roles persist, there have been movements in recent years to dismantle them, and unconsciously making such statements could easily lead to a major backlash.
2-2. Sexual expression
One thing to be careful about in advertising creative is sexual content.
While the target audience is certainly not limited to women, expressions that emphasize parts of a woman’s body or depict women in a sexually ornamental way are more likely to be used and more likely to cause outrage.
Be careful not to use extreme language solely to attract attention .
2-3. Expressions that lack consideration for diversity
In recent years, awareness of diverse sexual values has spread, and expressions that lack consideration for transgender people and other individuals with different gender identities, or that are discriminatory or offensive, can be one of the causes of online outrage.
2-4. Expressions that promote lookism
Lookism refers to the idea of discriminating against or judging people based on their appearance or looks .
When advertisements or other media unconsciously contain lookism expressions, or when they make arbitrary standards of beauty or morality based on appearance, such as “thinner is more beautiful,” they can spark outrage for promoting lookism.
While it’s common to use techniques like deliberately stirring up anxiety or employing negative language to attract attention, we should be very careful with our wording to avoid hurting or offending many people.
2-5. Cases that have actually caused gender-related controversies.
As an example, we will also introduce actual cases where companies have experienced gender-related controversies.
In a diaper commercial by a hygiene product manufacturer, scenes of a parent comforting a crying baby at night were shown, depicting the difficulties of childcare, and conveying the message that “those moments will one day become treasures.”
In this commercial, the father only appears for about four seconds in a two-minute ad, and the mother is shown to be handling almost all of the childcare. This has led to many criticisms that it perpetuates gender roles and glorifies “single-parent childcare.”
3. How can we prevent gender-related controversies?
So, what measures can be taken to prevent gender-related controversies?
Here are three main ways to prevent gender-related controversies:
3-1. Check the content of the message from diverse perspectives.
When reviewing official company communications and advertising creatives, make sure multiple people carefully check them.
Particularly effective is establishing a team comprised of diverse members with varying perspectives in terms of age, gender, and background, allowing for risk assessment from each individual’s point of view .
3-2. Pay attention to social topics.
While gender-related controversies themselves are a social topic, it’s generally best to avoid socially sensitive topics or topics that elicit strong individual opinions, as these carry a high risk of causing controversy.
If you’re feeling anxious, it’s a good idea to get a check-up from a specialist.
3-3. Monitoring social media
Social media monitoring strategies can be used to mitigate the risk of online firestorms by identifying potential criticisms early and addressing them before they escalate, as well as to measure the effectiveness of marketing efforts.
While it’s possible to perform SNS monitoring using your own personnel through manual checks or tools, it requires specialized knowledge. Therefore, to ensure more effective results, it’s best to entrust the task to a specialized company with expertise and a proven track record .
4. Leave the prevention of online crises and post-crisis response to “Brand Cloud”.
If you’re looking to protect yourself from online backlash and reputational damage caused by carelessness regarding gender considerations, including social media monitoring, please
entrust your project to our company, Brand Cloud .
Our company offers a service called ” Reputation Damage Cloud ” that provides fundamental countermeasures against the risk of reputational damage .
The reputation damage cloud service uses AI-powered reputation monitoring to detect risks such as negative publicity early on.
To mitigate and prevent negative damage such as defamation and reputational harm, we implement unique measures that can adapt to the ever-changing algorithms of the internet .
Brand Cloud’s distinguishing feature is its ability to effectively protect corporate activities from a wide range of online troubles through these highly successful strategies and extensive know how.
Furthermore, just as negative information can spread at an incredible speed due to the high virality of social media, which can trigger online firestorms, negative information can also spread very quickly.
Therefore, it’s possible that the impact of the controversy has spread to areas easily visible to users, such as search engine suggestions.
Our brand cloud service also offers free surveys that comprehensively investigate various reputation risks like these .
Please feel free to contact us for a consultation.
5. Summary
In this article, we have provided a detailed explanation of the main causes and prevention measures for gender-related controversies that companies must be careful about when disseminating information and creating creative content.
Gender-related controversies are a common cause of online backlash, and it’s an element that companies should be very aware of in terms of its social impact.
If you want to deepen your understanding of gender-related controversies and take measures to prepare for potential risks, please use Brand Cloud.
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