The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and its associations of advertisers in Latin America have pledged to take action on harmful stereotypes in marketing, during the meetings held this week in Buenos Aires.
Publish Date: Oct 11, 2019
The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and its associations of advertisers in Latin America have pledged to take action on harmful stereotypes in marketing, during the meetings held this week in Buenos Aires.
The Declaration of Buenos Aires has been presented by the WFA and the national associations of advertisers from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile and Paraguay at the annual regional meeting of the WFA.
The statement highlights a vision to address inappropriate stereotypes and a set of principles that national associations of advertisers in the region are committed to promoting collectively and individually to accelerate change.
The associations commit themselves to prioritize the following actions:
• Promote progressive content that does not object, but rather represents people as empowered actors, in all their different facets.
• Promote a progressive work culture that offers a place for people, without differences and in all their diversity, to prosper and grow.
• Find measuring instruments and accountability mechanisms to accelerate progress.
The declaration is based on efforts already made globally and locally by WFA and its national associations, including national associations of advertisers from Brazil, Colombia and Paraguay, as well as from Belgium, France, Turkey and the United States, where #SeeHer is It has become an emblematic movement led by the ANA.
In Brazil, the Association of Advertisers (ABA) facilitated the launch - in February of this year - of the Unstereotype Alliance Brazil, an alliance between UN Women and industry representatives, including Unilever , Grupo Boticário , Heads and Mastercard .
In Chile, the National Association of Advertisers (ANDA) presented a “Guide to good practices: The representation of women in advertising”, with the aim of making visible the areas of improvement of Chilean advertising in order to eliminate harmful female stereotypes and limiting
In Colombia, based on the WFA guide, ANDA has been developing its guide for an adequate representation of gender in advertising, which will be presented in the month of November this year.
In Paraguay, the Chamber of Advertisers has been running the “Entrepreneurs CAP” program since 2016, which seeks to promote a better representation of women in marketing, both in organizations and in advertising, through activities such as mentoring programs, best practices by sharing custom magazine columns.
Research conducted by the Unstereotype Alliance in 28 markets, including Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Peru and Spain, has found that - despite some recent advances - most consumers feel that most advertising still does not reflect the world surrounding them. In particular, 63% believe that the representation of men and women in traditional or outdated roles influences the attitudes of young people, while 53% say that advertising creates unrealistic expectations about women.
'Acting on stereotypes is not only good for society, but also good for business in general, as progressive advertisements have proven more effective. Making it happen requires action on multiple levels and marketing specialists must analyze their internal cultures, their creative process and the way they distribute their messages to deliver the results we all want. It may take time, but commitments such as the Manifesto of Buenos Aires are an essential step in the journey we all must undertake, 'said Stephan Loerke , CEO of the WFA.
Philip Perez , WFA Regional VP for Latin America and President of the Argentine Chamber of Advertisers, said: 'Advertising helps us build a better world. In this sense, this commitment collaborates in the elimination of harmful stereotypes. In fact, in Argentina, we can see that many companies have already advanced a lot in this journey, with advertising, innovative, progressive and inclusive messages. This initiative seeks to inspire more advertisers to start this path. '
Sandra Martinelli , executive president of the National Association of Advertisers of Brazil (ABA), explained: 'Inspiring marketing professionals to challenge their own communications was ABA's goal when it translated and adapted the Guide to Progressive Gender Representation in Advertising , from the WFA. The expansion of diversity in corporate culture was the objective of the launch of the #UnstereotypeAlliance movementin Brazil. Now, mobilizing marketing to transform business and society, and in defense of ethical and responsible communication in which we believe, we have signed the Buenos Aires Declaration for Progressive Advertising. We hope that with that initiative, we can further inspire the market to move towards a conscious relationship with diversity. '
Fernando Mora , president of the National Association of Advertisers of Chile , said: 'As the National Association of Advertisers of Chile, we are aware of the cultural change that has been taking place some years ago, not only in Chile but also in the rest of the world and that it is profoundly modifying the concepts and social roles that until recently dominated women and men. '
Elizabeth Melo , executive president of the National Association of Advertisers of Colombia , said: 'As the Association of Advertisers of Colombia, we believe in the strength of advertising to transform society and culture. We have the deep conviction that, through responsible commercial communication, we can alleviate the problems that our society is going through and empower the actors to mobilize concrete actions that allow for real change. As a guild, we have been working on a guide for adequate gender representation in advertising that will contribute to the construction of a better country and a better region. '
Miguel Ángel Aranda , legal advisor of the Chamber of Advertisers of Paraguay , added: 'It seems fundamental to us from the point of view of the advertisers to work in the construction of a society free from prejudice and discrimination. Therefore, as the Chamber of Advertisers of Paraguay, we advocate an advertising communication without harmful stereotypes and in which we seek to promote the much needed change of attitudes and social behaviors'.