#WomenNotObjects: The 2016 Campaign Against Objectifying Ads

#WomenNotObjects was a 2016 campaign by the New York advertising executive Madonna Badger, launched with a short video that called out ads using women's bodies as props to sell unrelated products, from burgers to vodka. In the video, women hold up real print ads and voice, with heavy irony, what each image implies about them. The aim was to get the advertising industry itself to stop objectifying women, because of the harm such images can do to girls' and women's self-image.

Below is the story of the campaign, the simple test it proposed for any ad, what research says about objectification and body image, and what viewers can still do today.

What the #WomenNotObjects video showed

The video, about two and a half minutes long, was posted unbranded around 11–12 January 2016 under the hashtag #WomenNotObjects. It placed familiar ads, including ones for Burger King, Skyy Vodka, Carl's Jr. and DirecTV, in the hands of women who then deadpanned the message each picture seemed to send. The effect was uncomfortable on purpose: a slogan that slides by on a billboard sounds very different spoken aloud by a real person.

Its closing message argued that girls grow up learning that their appearance matters more than their feelings, their character or their abilities. The campaign asked a direct question of viewers and advertisers alike: would you accept this image if the woman in it were your mother, sister, wife or colleague?

The video spread quickly. Within about two weeks it had passed several hundred thousand views on YouTube, the hashtag trended on Twitter, and UN Women and the actor Ashton Kutcher were among those who shared it.

Who was behind it, and why

Madonna Badger founded the agency Badger & Winters in 1994. Earlier in her career she conceived the 1990s Calvin Klein underwear campaigns featuring Mark Wahlberg and Kate Moss, work she later looked back on critically. In interviews she said that raising children of her own showed her what this kind of imagery can do to young people.

Her motivation was also deeply personal. In 2011 her three daughters and her parents died in a house fire on Christmas morning. She told reporters that she wanted the rest of her working life to have a purpose. Speaking to The Drum, she said: "I love my job but I don't want to do it if it hurts anyone." Her argument was that responsibility lies with agencies, which should refuse to generate objectifying ideas in the first place, rather than with consumers alone.

Women Not Objects

A still of a fashion-style advertisement of the kind criticised by #WomenNotObjects: the woman is posed as a passive prop while the man takes the active role. Image via Women Not Objects.

A simple test for any ad

Badger & Winters published its own rules for the women in its campaigns. In summary, an ad objectifies a woman when:

• She is a prop. She has no choice, no voice and no role beyond decoration.
• She is retouched beyond reality. Heavy airbrushing makes her look plastic or unattainably perfect.
• A body part sells an unrelated product. Cleavage selling juice, or a mouth selling yogurt, are the agency's own examples.
• You would object if it were someone you love. If the image would be unacceptable showing your mother, partner or co-worker, it should not be acceptable at all.

The agency pledged not to treat women this way in its own work. The test is useful for anyone: next time an ad catches your eye, ask whether the woman in it is a person doing something, or an object placed there to be looked at.

What research says about objectification and body image

The concern behind the campaign has solid research support. In 2008 a task force of the American Psychological Association reviewed studies on the sexualisation of girls. It defined sexualisation as treating a person's value as coming only from sexual appeal, or treating someone as an object for others' use, and linked it to three of the most common mental health problems in girls and women: eating disorders, low self-esteem and depression. It also reported that self-objectification can undermine concentration; in one experiment, young women wearing swimsuits did worse on maths problems than those wearing sweaters.

A 2008 online survey of 4,023 American women aged 25 to 45, run by SELF magazine with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, found that 65 percent described disordered eating behaviours, while another 10 percent had symptoms consistent with eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia or binge eating disorder. Because it was an online survey rather than a representative sample, its figures should be read as an indication, not an exact national rate. Still, they show that unhealthy eating and body worries are common well beyond the teenage years.

Advertising is only one influence among many, alongside social media, peers and family. But because ads are repeated so often, the narrow ideal they present can come to feel normal. If you or someone you know is struggling with eating or body image, talk to a doctor; eating disorders are treatable, and early help makes a real difference.

Common objections, answered

• "Sex sells, so this is just business." Badger's point was that agencies choose their methods. Plenty of successful campaigns sell products without reducing anyone to a body part.
• "It's only an ad." A single image may be harmless, but people see thousands of them. Research on objectification looks at the cumulative effect of a steady diet of such images.
• "Men are objectified too." Sometimes they are, and unrealistic standards affect men's body image as well. That is an argument for better advertising for everyone, not against this campaign.
• "Women in ads choose to pose." Models are professionals, and the campaign did not criticise them. Its target was the creative decisions about how women are framed.

What you can do

• Talk about ads with children. Ask who made an image, what it is selling and what it suggests about the people in it. Media literacy helps young people resist narrow ideals.
• Reward respectful brands. Notice and support companies that show women as capable people.
• Complain through the proper channel. Many countries have advertising standards bodies that accept complaints about offensive or harmful ads.
• Watch your own language. Commenting on a person's achievements rather than their looks is a small daily habit that sends the same message as the campaign.

#WomenNotObjects did not end objectifying advertising, but it showed that some of the strongest criticism can come from inside the industry, and that a few honest questions can make a familiar image look very different.

Sources: PRWeek: How one agency is fighting back against the objectification of women in advertising; The Drum, 26 January 2016; American Psychological Association: Report of the Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls; UNC News, 22 April 2008: Survey finds disordered eating behaviors among three out of four American women. Video and image by Women Not Objects / Badger & Winters. Originally adapted from True Activist.

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