The concept of women being featured in sports advertising is still a new and growing concept. Sports has been a traditionally male dominated field. More and more companies are trying to appeal to female athletes or sports fans. Some companies do this for obvious reasons that have to do with boosting sales. Others take on a different approach, simply encouraging women to be the best athletes they can be. This realm of advertising is evolving every day, and these next to examples show it.
The first example comes from England. The Ad Campaign entitled “This Girl Can” is not advertising for a specific brand. Rather, it trying to show the world all of the different possibilities for females to get active and be the best athletes they can be. The goal of this campaign is to shrink the gap of the amount of men versus women who participate in sports. This commercial is interesting, because it shows women of all shapes, sizes, and races, enjoying all different kinds of sports. It has a very empowering tone to it. Not to mention the images are accompanied by a Maya Angelou poem, which makes the whole production even more inspiring. These types of ads are growing in number, but are still rare compared to sports ads featuring men. This campaign does a great job in showing that it is ok for women to be athletes, and that it should actually be encouraged. The video is attached below.
Similarly, a Forbes article discusses how the “shrink it and pink it” method when it comes to women in advertising should be eliminated. The article discusses how traditionally, women were not portrayed in advertisements as tough or hard working, but now, marketers are realizing that these same characteristics can be used to describe both men and women. The idea is that this concept needs to be used more often in advertising. The article explains how more and more companies are using this idea to their advantage. Featuring women in sports advertisements can go a long way for companies, and many of them are realizing that and are shifting to include this concept in their strategies.
https://www.marketingweek.com/2017/02/24/sport-england-this-girl-can-tv/
The Advertising Implications 