Femvertising refers to ads that aim to celebrate and empower women and girls. Now while 
femvertising seems to be good for business, is it good for women?

While sexist advertising has seemingly decreased, it has not been completely eliminated. Even today, as Derek Thompson points out in The Atlantic, “A certain kind of sexism…is still considered pretty funny and not terribly sacred. In most modern ads, there are two kinds of sexism.


First there is winking sexism, where women are objectified but something in the ad seems to acknowledge to the audience: ‘We know we're being sexist, so that makes it okay.’ Second, there is the boomerang sexism, where we see men fighting back against their domestication and emasculation.” Generally, these types of ads are not given too much attention unless they are particularly egregious. However, the fact that they remain underscores the sexism at the heart of popular culture.

Some might point out that advertising has progressed a lot and this is perhaps best seen in ads aimed at female consumers. Advertising that targets women is nothing new. From the golden era of television in the mid-twentieth century, to radio and print ads before that, women have been sought after consumers because of their continued buying power in households—women control over $20 trillion, or 70 percent of global consumer spending. Yet, advertising aimed at women is not necessarily empowering and in todays climate that can hurt a company’s bottom line.

This is where femvertising comes—appealing to the positive attributes of womanhood, without demeaning, belittling, or shaming women.

A survey complied by SheKnows found that 52 percent of women admitted to buying a product because they liked how a company’s ads presented women and 43 percent of women admitted it made them feel good about supporting the brand. Furthermore, only 25% of the over 600 women polled said they would continue using a product if they didn't like how women were portrayed in its ads.

Fama Francisco, vice president for global feminine care at Procter & Gamble believes that “Femvertising works because these types of ads champion girls and women -- they speak directly to them, and the people who love them, and celebrate them during various aspects of their life.”

Francisco is not far off, according to the data: “Fifty-two percent of the more than 600 women surveyed online nationally said they have bought a product because they liked how the ad for it portrayed women, and 71% of those surveyed said they believe brands should be held responsible for using their ads to promote positive messages to women and girls.”

Catering to women in ways that are not patronizing is not just good sense but good for a business’ bottom line as women make 85 percent of consumer purchases in the average American household.

Neverthlesss, there can be pitfalls to femvertising. It can fall flat if it is perceived as phony or inauthentic: “Inauthentic support cheapens the idea of women’s equality, and that is dangerous not only for the purveyors of business behind those token messages, but to the feminist movement itself. Too many attempts to “market to women” seem to me to turn female power into a commodity — or at least, reduces female power into something mostly good for buying more commodities.”

Overall, femvertising, the latest iteration of targeted advertising for women seems to be a step in the right direction. It proves that female consumers do not have to be talked down to in order for companies to sell their products and underscores the ongoing cultural shifts away from the sexism that has plagued advertising since its inception.