IAA India Chapter, UNICEF partner to promote equal gender representation in advertising

In a statement, UNICEF said this is based on the understanding that marketing plays a powerful role in shaping gender roles and perceptions, and advertising is an important tool that can influence women's and girls' empowerment. IAA will identify the most viewed 1,000 TV and Digital advertisements in India in 2019, provide technical insights and recommendations to the study, and help disseminate the findings to the advertising industry to advocate for more responsible and gender empowering advertising policies and practices, it said.

UNICEF on Monday said it has collaborated with the India Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA) to support research on gender representation in advertisements in the country based on evidence and real-time validation. In a statement, UNICEF said this is based on the understanding that marketing plays a powerful role in shaping gender roles and perceptions, and advertising is an important tool that can influence women's and girls' empowerment.

IAA will identify the most viewed 1,000 TV and Digital advertisements in India in 2019, provide technical insights and recommendations to the study, and help disseminate the findings to the advertising industry to advocate for more responsible and gender empowering advertising policies and practices, it said. "The changing and evolving landscape of advertisements has a huge potential to promote gender equitable practices especially among young people," it said. The partnership with IAA will bring extensive technical expertise and leadership in the area of marketing, advertising and media to the on-going research on gender representation and stereotypes in TV and digital advertisements in India, specifically those targeted towards children, adolescents and caregivers, the statement said.

"The research will ascertain the level of gender stereotyping found in Indian advertisements and will create a baseline to measure change as well as initiate dialogue with advertising professionals and content creators," the statement said. Dr Yasmin Ali Haque, Representative, UNICEF India said advertising has a massive impact on children and building evidence and using it to advocate for re-thinking policies and practices is an important element of responsible advertising.   "We look forward to working with IAA to create an environment where the advertisement industry is truly a partner in empowering girls and women. We are also delighted to be collaborating with UN Women, The Sarojini Naidu Centre for Women's Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia and Population First for this initiative," she said..