Sarah Jessica Parker on real advertising to real women
When asked for her opinion of how the advertising world depicts these women of all shapes and sizes, SJP’s response was considerably diplomatic – probably a wise move considering she had the fixed gaze of the global advertising industry upon her.
“I don’t have a doctorate in this particular area,” she admitted, adding: “I see really smart, careful, thoughtful campaigns and… exploitative campaigns for both men and women.” She then singled out Dove for its “amazing way of talking about women”.
Cosmopolitan editor Joanna Coles, who joined SJP on stage and at the press conference, pointed to the Pantene ‘Labels’ campaign is an example of advertising that is in touch with women. She went on to hail the progress that is being made: “I think advertisers are so conscious now of catching up with what’s going on with women’s real lives.”
But do the stats match up with this sentiment? At the SheSays forum at Cannes the day before, a panel debated why even though 80 per cent of purchases across every category are made by women, 90 per cent of women don’t not feel advertising understands them. So while the likes of Dove and Pantene might be making strides, there is still a long way to go before advertising comes close to being relevant to women’s real lives.
For now it’s encouraging to see that at least the debate is taking place and getting a higher profile. Though there are still some people who still haven’t quite got with the female empowerment programme. As Sarah Jessica Parker walked into the press conference, one male journalist in the press pack cooed loudly “Oooh, mon amour.”