Situation

The Unstereotype Alliance, convened by UN Women, aims to eradicate stereotypes in advertising and promote a more realistic portrayal of men in ads. Despite progress in portraying women, men's representation has stagnated, resulting in regressive gender attitudes and mental health issues among young men.

Research reveals that 66% of Gen Z men feel advertising negatively impacts their sense of success, with a significant gap between their perception of success and what they ultimately subscribe to. To address this, we need to raise awareness in redefining what success for men should look like in ads.

Brief

Develop a print ad that redefines success for Gen Z men, presenting and challenging harmful stereotypes.

Objectives

Inspire positive change and awareness by countering harmful narratives of what success should be and promote an alternative approach where the well-being of young men is not in hindsight, but foresight.

We live in a capitalistic world where everything is for sale. Especially our insecurities.

For a generation that’s chronically online, it takes almost nothing to be negatively influenced by brands and ‘manfluencers’ preaching problematic ideas of success.

Your insecurities and vulnerabilities are used for the bottom line of big corporations; but what if you were told that it could be a force for good? They’re a vehicle for empathy, growth, and achievement, but ads don’t allow you to view the flip side because that’s not really good for business.

So we’ll do that for you. Your insecurities are not a profit-making commodity. They’re your untapped superpower, waiting to be harnessed for personal growth and to demand change in how men are represented in ads.

Strategy:

The most effective way to bring change in behaviour is with positive reinforcement and an engaging device - the commodification of insecurities. To get Gen Z men to look at a version of success they don’t feel pressured to subscribe to, can only happen if they’re given an alternative, and not blamed for being unaware.

Insight:

Year after year we’ve seen ads portray success for men in the same manner–big cars and bigger houses. Advertising has made them subscribe to the idea that success must look good, before it feels good. Which is why men buy at the cost of their well-being. While the portrayal of women in advertising has had a constant conversation and change, no one got the memo to bring the representation of men up to speed with how the generation today feels about success. Success today is not just about money, but also freedom, a healthy mind, and happiness. The boys locker-room era is over and the boy talker-room era is here to share their insecurities and stop brands from leeching on it. After all, your insecurities should not be something you ‘add to cart.’

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