Feminism & Marketing: Cultural Change or Pinkwashing

Abstract

In recent years ads from industry giants have begun to celebrate women and are now attracting new consumers with these ads. This paper is an exploratory study focusing on the intersection between marketing and feminism. The feminist movement and the role of advertising will be presented for historical and social context. Also, this paper develops case studies to analyze advertisement campaigns that promote feminist/female empowerment messages. The essence of this paper is to consider this marketing strategy trend and the implications it has for sustainability and the depiction of women in future ads.