• Login
Upload
Tech News, Magazine & Review WordPress Theme 2017
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Videos
    • All
    • Hum Awam
    • Off The Cuff
    • The Afia Salam Show

    Going Green!

    Cricket Corruption: Butt, Asif Found Guilty

    Amir, Asif & Butt Jailed

    Natural Gases

    Chalo Chalo Bhit Shah Chalo

    Teach the Teachers

    Mixed Media

    Fix the Fixing!

    Be Safe Online

  • Societal Issues
    • All
    • Gender

    What does the society expect of its women!

    Guatemala: Indigenous Village Declares Internet Access a Human Right

    Speak Up Against Gender Based Violence

    A Little Feel Good Story

    “We Learn From History, That We Never Learn From History”

    Bhoja Air Crash and Climate Change

    Strange Bedfellows?

    Justice for Women

    Women’s role & culture

  • Stories
    • All
    • advocacy
    • Disaster Response
    • Environment
    • History
    • Media
    • Media, Advertising & Branding
    • Miscellaneous
    • Politics
    Remembering Baba e Mangroves Late Tahir Qureshi on #WMD22

    Remembering Baba e Mangroves Late Tahir Qureshi on #WMD22

    Nostalgia and Hope intertwine with Climate Induced Migration

    Nostalgia and Hope intertwine with Climate Induced Migration

    World Water Day 2018:Nature Based Solutions

    World Water Day 2018:Nature Based Solutions

    Once upon a Christmas in a Town called Hussain D’Silva

    Once upon a Christmas in a Town called Hussain D’Silva

    Getting through December 21

    Getting through December 21

    That date.. December 16th!

    His Sabeen, and Ours’

    His Sabeen, and Ours’

    World Cancer Day.. is just another day!

    World Cancer Day.. is just another day!

    Six years after the Attabad disaster, adaptation is still name of the game!

    Six years after the Attabad disaster, adaptation is still name of the game!

  • Mind Over Matter
  • Articles
  • About
    • Profile
    • Portfolio
    • Expertise
  • Contact
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Videos
    • All
    • Hum Awam
    • Off The Cuff
    • The Afia Salam Show

    Going Green!

    Cricket Corruption: Butt, Asif Found Guilty

    Amir, Asif & Butt Jailed

    Natural Gases

    Chalo Chalo Bhit Shah Chalo

    Teach the Teachers

    Mixed Media

    Fix the Fixing!

    Be Safe Online

  • Societal Issues
    • All
    • Gender

    What does the society expect of its women!

    Guatemala: Indigenous Village Declares Internet Access a Human Right

    Speak Up Against Gender Based Violence

    A Little Feel Good Story

    “We Learn From History, That We Never Learn From History”

    Bhoja Air Crash and Climate Change

    Strange Bedfellows?

    Justice for Women

    Women’s role & culture

  • Stories
    • All
    • advocacy
    • Disaster Response
    • Environment
    • History
    • Media
    • Media, Advertising & Branding
    • Miscellaneous
    • Politics
    Remembering Baba e Mangroves Late Tahir Qureshi on #WMD22

    Remembering Baba e Mangroves Late Tahir Qureshi on #WMD22

    Nostalgia and Hope intertwine with Climate Induced Migration

    Nostalgia and Hope intertwine with Climate Induced Migration

    World Water Day 2018:Nature Based Solutions

    World Water Day 2018:Nature Based Solutions

    Once upon a Christmas in a Town called Hussain D’Silva

    Once upon a Christmas in a Town called Hussain D’Silva

    Getting through December 21

    Getting through December 21

    That date.. December 16th!

    His Sabeen, and Ours’

    His Sabeen, and Ours’

    World Cancer Day.. is just another day!

    World Cancer Day.. is just another day!

    Six years after the Attabad disaster, adaptation is still name of the game!

    Six years after the Attabad disaster, adaptation is still name of the game!

  • Mind Over Matter
  • Articles
  • About
    • Profile
    • Portfolio
    • Expertise
  • Contact
No Result
View All Result
Afia salam
No Result
View All Result

Girls drink Milk too

afiasalam by afiasalam
June 11, 2014
Home Uncategorized
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Aurora

 

 

Girls drink milk too

Positive messaging is what advertisers should be doing, instead of heedlessly reinforcing gender stereotypes, writes Afia Salam.

milk1

Is this a rant? Well, sort of, although I usually restrict my rants to social media forums. But lately I have been a bigger ‘consumer’ of the media than ever before. Working from home, I usually have the television on, and what is beamed by way of advertising is, well, not very palatable.

The debate on the commodification of women has been done to death. We are seeing a lesser number of women pushing ‘men only’ products.

As for the issue of culturally inappropriate imagery, it may resurface along with the swirls of lawn now that summer is here. This is not what this rant is about.

Neither is it about the offensive ‘skin whitening’ creams promising a happily ever after. Or wedded bliss and acceptance by the in-laws by conjuring up the right kind of fragrance in cooked rice (Maggie Umda) and laundered clothes (Sunlight). I live in hope that these will eventually fade, or at least become reflective of another breed of women, who march ahead, notching up successes in fields as diverse as mountain climbing, flying planes, performing complicated surgery or teaching difficult subjects in remote parts of Pakistan; every one of them completely unmindful of the effect these activities may have on their complexion. Or culinary skills!

But I digress. This is about the gender bias in the advertising of products which lay claim to improving health, growth, well being and which reinforce dangerous stereotypes that have far reaching effects on society. And please don’t anyone fling the line at me that “it is just advertising; it has no effect.” Everyone associated with this industry knows the purpose of advertising is to have an effect on those it is targeted at – en route to the bottom line.

The problem I have with the advertising by some leading brands is their extreme gender imbalance, nay exclusion. Be it a brand of milk, (Nestlé Milk, Nido)… better still, of a fortified kind, or a food supplement (Horlicks), the talent shown in the commercial is that of a boy – never a girl! Boys are shown guzzling glasses of milk and adding IQ points, smearing butter and margarine on parathas and grabbing cups in sporting meets, adding nutrition supplements to their food and inches to their height.

milk2

Why?

As I mentioned earlier, I usually rant on social media. I did on this issue too, and while there was some support for my point of view, it was the justification given for the gender exclusive trend that had me stumped! ‘Mothers prefer boys’.

Yes, a cultural truth, but not one that needs to be perpetuated. Advertising is target market oriented, so since there is a tilt in favour of the male child, it has to cater to that niche… true again. But isn’t advertising about creating a demand to lead to a sale?

How will the addition of a girl in products not meet any marketing and advertising goals? The kind of products I have mentioned and the market they target has a profile of mothers who are usually without such biases. And if these biases are inherent, they can be nudged away with the right kind of messaging. Sometimes all it needs is for someone to realise that their biases are baseless.

The segment of children depicted in these commercials is not one where girls would be made to wait until their male sibling has eaten so that they can be given the leftovers. These too are the harsh realities of our patriarchal landscape, but the households shown in these ads are not from there.

milk3Also, judging by the monumental failure of our family planning programme, this single male child family may be a latent aspiration, but is far removed from reality. Wouldn’t a mother (or father) pouring two glasses of milk or stirring in spoonfuls of food supplements or ‘buttering up’ toast and parathas and then handing them over to a son and a daughter be more believable?

Surely brands with millions to spend on promotion in order to gain billions can afford the addition of a girl in the same concept? Even the film directors will not be too hard pressed to fit them in the same frame as their male sibling.

The social costs of the visual exclusion are far greater, especially in Pakistan, which ranks abysmally low on the nutrition index – 97 out of 125! It also scores a shameful 19.3 out of 100 on the Global Hunger Index. Scratch the surface, and you will see a clear tilt in this imbalance, negatively impacting women in general, and girls in particular.

When existing cultural biases are entrenched deep into the psyche, positive messaging, which need not even be a hard sell, can play a role in chipping away the stereotypes. It has been done elsewhere with success and the advertising industry across the world in general and in Pakistan in particular, has been putting forth some brilliant public service messages. There is no dearth of creativity here. Some of the current advertising, slice of life as well as fantasy, have engaging concepts, humour and great execution.

Advertising is usually taken to be an extended arm of marketing and the sales department of a brand. Try rocking the boat a bit; go beyond the market surveys and insights and rely on gut feel. Even if keeping an eye on the numbers is the objective, there is no harm in suggesting that the client attempt to broaden the customer base.

I still remember a brand of children’s biscuits – Choco Chum – which had no competitor in the market and enjoyed healthy growth. The agency urged, cajoled, and finally convinced the brand into doing an ad campaign and sales skyrocketed. They pushed the market envelope and the brand reaped the benefits.

So advertising does make a difference. Gender insensitive brand messaging neither makes good business sense, nor is it socially responsible. Maybe the advertising industry, which has the money and the clout could launch an affirmative action plan and weed out such practices.

How about kick-starting the brainstorming process by putting on a proxy and watching (on YouTube) the excellent advocacy animation developed by UNICEF called ‘Meena kee kahani’ addressing just this issue.

After all, we too have many Meenas in our midst. Let us not allow them to slip off the radar!

Afia Salam is a freelance journalist and has worked as a creative head at three agencies. afiasalam@gmail.com

First published in the May-June 2014 issue.

 
Tags: AdvertisingAuroraDAWNGender imbalanceGlobal Hunger IndexNutrition IndexPakistan
afiasalam

afiasalam

  Resume Freelance journalist and Communications consultant A bridge connecting ideas to people & solutions   Name: Afia Salam DoB:  03021957 Nationality: Pakistani Experience: Journalism: I have been associated with the media in many capacities since 1978. ·   Started as Pakistan's first female cricket writer. ·   Worked at The Star, eveninger of the Dawn group of Newspapers. ·   Editor of an Aviation and Defense magazine (Wings) ·    Executive Editor of The Cricketer magazine in the 80's and 90's, ·   Editor of Pakistan’s first Energy publication in 2001(Energy Update). ·   Joined Dawnnews which was launched as Pakistan’s first English language channel. Worked as a senior copy editor, Head of Culture Desk and content in charge of its flagship morning show titled Daily Breakfast@Dawn. ·   Content head of SpeakforChange blog and its associated web channel 247online.tv where I hosted a show and co-hosted another. ·   Communications Consultant for Exponent Engineers on the charged parking component of the World Bank-Government of Sindh KNIP project ·   Project lead for #C4CC (Conversations for Climate Change) Media capacity building project of High Commission of Canada in Pakistan and UNESCO ·   Project Lead for UNESCO supported  #MIL (Media Information Literacy) for Climate Change Stories from Pakistan, a nationwide media support project I contribute articles as a freelancer to many media outlets eg: Dawn, Tribune, Newsline, Aurora, The News on Sunday, Thirdpole, Nayadaur, The Friday Times. GEO English and Pique magazine.   Advertising: Worked almost 15 years as Creative head and Director Special Projects of three different advertising agencies, Blazon, Argus, and Blitz. From 1991 to 2005.         Development Sector: ·       Headed IUCN-Pakistan (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Education, Communications and Outreach Unit, and also briefly headed their Business and BioDiversity portfolio to kick start engagement with the corporate sector and industries to promote sustainable practices. ·       Served as Sindh coordinator of the newly formed Imran Khan Foundation to provide relief, rehabilitation and resettlement to the victims of 2010 floods in Sindh and of 2011 Badin cloudburst.   Socio-Cultural/Education Sector: ·       Project Manager for Pakistan for Google Cultural Institute  2014-15 to showcase Pakistan’s cultural and historical assets through digital exhibits prepared according to the GCI template.  ·       Communications Lead at Badal Do, a school and education reform programme ·       Visiting faculty at IoBM, having taught courses on Media Law and Ethics, and Environmental Journalism. Training: I have been involved in media development through training of journalists in reporting on environment, climate change, gender, labor, digital security, election reporting, effective use of social media and media ethics. ·       These trainings were held across Pakistan on behalf of organizations such as Pakistan Press Foundation-UNESCO, Intermedia-ILO, IRADA, Civic Action Resource- Solidarity Center, Intermedia-Democracy Reporting International, IUCN Pakistan-Oxfam-GB, LEAD Pakistan-HBS, LEAD-WWF, Green Media Initiatives- GNMI, Pakistan Water Partnership, CEJ-IBA. ·       Have also been a conducted trainings of school teachers, college and university students, and Government officials on the subjects of Environment, Climate Change and Media matters on behalf of IUCN Pakistan,  LEAD Pakistan, Friedrich Naumann Foundation, Greenwich University, Institute of Business Management, Heinrich Boll Stiftung, Islamic Relief Pakistan, , High Commission of Canada in Pakistan ·       Have held media management training for Marie Stopes Society , Unilever Pakistan, Uber- Pakistan and KElectric for their middle and top management.   Authored a commissioned researches on: ·       Needs Assessment for Promoting Ethics and Transparency in Pakistan Media  for Pakistan Press Foundation/Internews ·        Effect of Covid-19 on Journalism. commissioned by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung   Official Nominations: ·       Working Group on Climate Change and Security formed under the National Security Division and Strategic Policy Planning for the preparation of the National Security Policy ·       Member of the National Climate Change Council under the Federal Ministry of Climate Change ·       Multi-stakeholder National Coordinating Body of the Ministry of Climate Change, Government of Pakistan to set up Marine Protected Areas in Pakistan and am part of the team that saw through the declaration of Astola Island of Balochistan as Pakistan’s first MPA. ·       Curriculum Review Committee of Government of Sindh to assess gender balance and pluralism in primary school textbooks of 3 subjects ·       Review Committee to assess Climate Change content in Science and Geography Curriculum being developed under the Single National Curriculum ·       Consumer Protection Council announced by the Government of Sindh ·       Baaghban Core Group of Karachi Municipal Corporation’s Horticulture Department. ·       Focal Person and Communications lead for the unique “Art for Climate Change” initiative began under the aegis of Ministry of Climate that has broadened outreach of Climate Change through the art community by taking them on retreats and exhibiting their outputs. Was part of the retreat in 2018 to Naran, and to the Sindh Delta under Government of Sindh banner in 2020. ·       Member of the Gender Based Violence Sub Committee of the Sindh Commission for Human Rights ·       Member of Fact-Finding Committee for the archives verification at National Museum, Karachi ·       Was a member of the first ever rafting expedition on the river Indus which traversed from its entry point into Pakistan to where it drains into the Arabian Sea     I have moderated seminars, Panel discussions, Roundtables, Inception report launches etc for UNDP Small Grants Programme, UNDP Climate Finance in Bangkok, WWF Pakistan, IDRC/Kings College London/IBA Karachi, World Bank ‘Pakistan @100’ launch in Karachi to name a few.   Have ghost written, edited and translated several books and reports of some leading personalities and organizations.   Have also done third party qualitative assessment of projects.   Fellowships:   ·       Fellow of Lead Pakistan (Cohort 16) under its Leadership Development Programme on the subject of Green Economies and completed an additional Fellowship on Indus Basin Benefit Sharing. ·       GRID graduate, which is a leadership development course. ·       Completed a course from on Water from  LUMS Water In Technology School ·       Received scholarship by International Labor Organization for an online course on Gender from its ITC in Turin, Italy. ·       Am an IAF alumni, having completed a course on Liberalism, Environment & Property Rights. ·       Participated in a short course in Women in Executive Leadership at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia on a fellowship from Australia Awards. ·       Was an Journalists Exchange Programme participant of US Consulate on CVE (Countering Violent Extremism)   Memberships and Associations: ·       Advisor for National Forum for Environment & Health, Bolo Bhi, a digital rights research policy and advocacy organization ·       Member of  WWF Pakistan, IUCN Commission on Education and Communications, and IUCN CEESP Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy. ·       Core Group for Water Energy & Food Nexus for Sindh and Universities for Water Network created by the Hisaar Foundation ·       Think tank on Hoga Saaf Pakistan   Member Steering Committee: ·       Alliance on Diversity and Pluralism in Media, ·       Urban Forest Coalition Civil Society Organizations: Trustee and Chair of Board of Indus Earth Trust, a rural development organization Trustee of Helpline Trust, which focuses on consumer and civic rights Trustee of Saneeya Hussain Trust that assists in girls’ higher education, as a President Executive Committee of Baanhn Beli Founding Board member and Vice President Salman Sufi Foundation Member Advisory Committee of FFOP (Faith For Our Planet)     My website is being redone and will be accessible at www.afiasalam.com Some information of my work is available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afia_Salam   I have traveled to Japan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand, India, UAE, Kenya, Poland, Germany, Netherlands, France, Saudi Arabia, Nepal, UK, USA, and Australia in an official as well personal capacity.                                                                                                                                                                        

Next Post

Rain on the (#AzadiMarchPTI #Inqilab) Parade

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recommended.

Indus for all

May 28, 2012

Chalo Chalo Bhit Shah Chalo

August 27, 2012

Trending.

Remembering Baba e Mangroves Late Tahir Qureshi on #WMD22

Remembering Baba e Mangroves Late Tahir Qureshi on #WMD22

July 26, 2022
World Cancer Day.. is just another day!

World Cancer Day.. is just another day!

February 4, 2016
Hospital, Gilchrist & cricketing DNA!

Hospital, Gilchrist & cricketing DNA!

August 2, 2016

“We Learn From History, That We Never Learn From History”

August 9, 2012
Nostalgia and Hope intertwine with Climate Induced Migration

Nostalgia and Hope intertwine with Climate Induced Migration

September 30, 2020
Afia salam

Media consultant and trainer, content developer/editor, documentary concept and script writer, presenter/producer.
Currently working as free lance journalist and media trainer, especially in the field of Environmental journalism.

Follow Us

POWERED by WIMA

Categories

  • advocacy
  • Blog
  • Disaster Response
  • Environment
  • Gender
  • History
  • Hum Awam
  • Media
  • Media, Advertising & Branding
  • Miscellaneous
  • Off The Cuff
  • Politics
  • Societal Issues
  • The Afia Salam Show
  • Uncategorized

Tags

Adaptation Afia Salam Balochistan Bangladesh Change Children Civilization Climate Change Cricket Culture December 16 1971 disaster England Environment Floods glaciers Government History India Internet IUCN Journalism Journalists justice Karachi Mangroves Media Nature Pakistan Pakistanis Politics PTI Senate Sindh Speak For Change Sports Technology USA VAW Water women Work working women World Youth

Recent News

Remembering Baba e Mangroves Late Tahir Qureshi on #WMD22

Remembering Baba e Mangroves Late Tahir Qureshi on #WMD22

July 26, 2022

Learning from Steve Jobs

October 6, 2020

Developed by Jareeullah Shah

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About
    • Profile
    • Portfolio
    • Expertise
  • Blog
  • Videos
  • Societal Issues
  • Stories
  • Mind Over Matter
  • Contact
Upload
  • Login

Developed by Jareeullah Shah

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In