How to See, Avoid, & Fix Stereotypes in your Advertising
by Brennen Charles
Stereotypes. They’re a lot like cigarettes: harmful, gross, and highly prevalent in print ads from the 1960s. A lot has changed since then, but still, stereotypes persist, albeit in much more subtle, yet detrimental ways — think e-cigarettes and vape pens. Just as harmful but re-packaged with scents and flavors to mask the destructive chemicals!
We all, I hope, like to think we are fair-minded, impartial people who don’t give in to stereotypes but because we are steeped in a culture that has bent toward ageism, sexism, racism, nativism, nationalism, and all other isms, it can be hard sometimes to shake that off. Some “isms” still seep in.
So, how do we combat this plague of “isms and stereotypes in advertising?”
Keep Them Top Of Mind
Have you ever learned a new word and then suddenly you see its everywhere you go? Cool, right? Well, that’s not magic, it’s called the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon. It states that when you learn something new, it stays fresh in your mind — you’re paying more attention to it than you were before. That means, if you make a mental note about stereotypes when you’re writing or editing your work, you are more likely to see them. If you seek out and learn about stereotypes, you’ll be better equipped to see them in your work and avoid them from the very first draft.
Seek Out Different
Have someone else who doesn’t check off the same boxes as you read over your work. It’s a great way to see if there’s something you may have overlooked. It’s part of why writing rooms are getting more diverse. You get better ideas, unique perspectives, and cover your bases. If you have a stereotype in your ad, you can take multiple steps to correct it up to and including re-writing the piece. But, a fun way to handle it is what I call the Missy Elliot Method:
Flip It and Reverse It
That is, swap the roles in the ad! Make the husband the one in the bathroom fussing over his hair instead of the wife. Make the grandfather the one up on the latest tech craze instead of the grandson. Your ad will not only stand out, but be original, inoffensive, and add a note of humor it didn’t have before. You can also have the person being stereotyped call out what is happening smartly. Say a young kid on her phone being dogged by her parent only to find out she is using it to apply for a job. It provides a fun twist and still manages to get the core point of the ad across. Note, this method isn’t always appropriate, so again, continue to seek out a diverse audience of editors and opinions.
All in all, when it comes to stereotypes do what every 90s anti-smoking PSA told us to and “put ’em out.” For all our sakes.
Brennen Charles is a freelance writer for Write Label. If you need help coming up with a compelling angle for your product or service, contact Write Label and get ideas from the world’s largest writers room.
