Gender Bias in Advertising

In 2017, discussions around gender and media have reached a fever pitch. We’ve seen movements for gender equality in Hollywood, in Silicon Valley, and even on Madison Avenue. But is the advertising industry making strides toward improving representation of women overall?

This report is the first to answer that question through a rigorous, data-driven approach. New joint research from the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media at Mount Saint Mary’s University and J. Walter Thompson New York, funded by Google.org and developed at the University of Southern California’s Viterbi School of Engineering, shines a light on the work still to be done.

This report includes:

• A study of more than 2,000 English-language ads from the Cannes Lions archive
• Automated analysis via the Geena Davis Inclusion Quotient (GD-IQ), a computer engineering tool to analyze screen time and gender created in partnership with the USC and Google
• Additional research from the Geena Davis Institute to identify other cultural and personal characteristics on screen
• Interviews with experts at the Geena Davis Institute and in the advertising world
• Original insight on cultural trends shaping diversity in 2017 and beyond, including Diverse Hollywood and Women-First Brands
• Key takeaways for brands