Feminism, now a brand

Elle U.K. has asked three major feminist groups, teenage campaigner Jinan Younis, newly launched Feminist Times and online magazine Vagenda to work with three major ad agencies, Brave, Mother and Wieden + Kennedy to rebrand feminism. The ads (shown above) make a valiant effort to address some of the major problems that women face today, from being stereotyped and sexualized to inequality in the workplace, to issues of sexual assault and rape. While it is great that these ads manage to fit all of these huge feminist issues onto one page, a little hard to buy that feminism is now a tagline. Also a little hard to buy that a traditional fashion magazine, historically presenting airbrushed models and promoting impossible beauty standards as the steward of this  “rebrand”. Clever attempt on the part of Elle to associate itself with the larger cause, but quite a stretch that an eighty-year struggle would be succinctly encompassed by 3 single page ads (with a very limited media budget). Points for trying, but…