Branding Feminism: Why Marketing is a Feminist Issue

From Barbie billboards to brand-sponsored activism, feminism has become marketable.

In many ways, that’s progress - conversations once dismissed as radical are now showing up on mainstream platforms. But when marketing meets the movement, who really benefits? And who’s being left behind?

This article explores how marketing shapes, sells, and sometimes sabotages feminism. It’s not just about pink merch with empowering slogans; it’s about algorithms, media bias, representation, and the fine line between genuine advocacy and brand opportunism.

Marketing isn’t just influenced by feminism - it actively influences how we see it.

The rise of “femvertising” (a term coined by SheKnows Media) reflects a shift in how brands engage with gender.

Dove’s “Real Beauty” campaign, Always’ #LikeAGirl, and Nike’s Serena Williams ads are just a few examples of companies aligning themselves with feminist values. On the surface, these campaigns seem positive: they challenge stereotypes, promote self-esteem, and give visibility to a diverse range of women.

But often, these same brands fall short behind the scenes - lacking diversity in leadership, exploiting workers, or using feminism as a PR tool rather than a principle. It’s easy to forget that the purpose of marketing is to sell something, and slogans like “The Future is Female” can lose meaning when mass-produced by companies with questionable ethics.

Representation Matters - But So Does Who Controls It

Marketing is a powerful tool in shaping public perception. A 2020 report from the Geena Davis Institute found that only 34.6% of characters in advertisements were women, and even fewer were women of colour, disabled, or plus-sized.

When women are included, they’re often depicted through narrow, stereotypical lenses - frequently presented as passive, sexualized, or defined by their relationships to others.

This isn’t just about visibility. The stories we see (or don’t see) influence how we treat people in real life. Marketing doesn’t just reflect societal attitudes; it reinforces them. If media repeatedly positions men as leaders and women as emotional caretakers, that perception trickles down into hiring practices, salary gaps, and leadership pipelines.

Algorithms Are Not Neutral

Modern marketing runs on algorithms - especially on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Google. These systems decide what content we see, which voices get amplified, and which stories are silenced. And they’re not objective.

Studies show that algorithms often replicate and amplify existing bias. A 2021 MIT study found that facial recognition software was significantly less accurate when identifying women of colour. Social platforms have been accused of suppressing content from marginalised creators, including plus-size women, LGBTQ+ users, and activists.

When these platforms are our primary marketing spaces, we must confront the fact that digital marketing is not a level playing field - and that inequality is often ingrained into the very code we use to build our campaigns.

Empowerment or Exploitation?

There’s a tension between visibility and commodification. On one hand, it’s empowering to see feminism go mainstream. On the other, when activism becomes an aesthetic, the message can get diluted.

Take International Women’s Day: once a protest movement, it’s now a hashtag marketing opportunity. Brands roll out campaigns without real accountability - offering discount codes in the name of equality while maintaining gender pay gaps or poor maternity policies behind closed doors.

The risk here is performative allyship. Feminism should not be a marketing angle - they should be embedded in how a brand treats its staff, allocates resources, and makes decisions.

Why Feminists Need to Pay Attention

Marketing is not just about sales. It shapes culture, influences language, and affects policy.

If feminists want to challenge systemic inequality, we need to understand how these systems work - and how they’re used against us.

That means questioning not just who is represented, but who’s doing the representing. It means calling out brands that use feminism as a costume. And it means supporting companies that embed equity in their structure, not just their branding.

Where We Go From Here

Feminist marketing is possible - but it requires more than catchy slogans.

It demands representation at every level of the creative process, algorithmic transparency, and a shift from performative content to actual accountability.

Feminism isn’t a trend. It’s a movement. And when marketing begins to treat it that way, everyone wins.

Sources:

• Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media (2020). "Examining Gender Representation in Advertising."
• MIT Media Lab (2021). "Gender and Skin-Type Bias in Commercial AI Systems."
• SheKnows Media (2017). "The Rise of Femvertising: Empowerment as Brand Strategy."
• New York Times (2020). "When Brands Take a Stand on Feminism—And When They Don’t."
• The Guardian (2022). "Instagram’s Algorithm ‘Censors’ Plus-Size Bodies, Activists Say.
  
  
  

Disclaimer:

This article has been written by a HASSL Ambassador as part of our community content initiative. While all ambassador contributions are reviewed for clarity, tone, and alignment with our values before publication, the views expressed are those of the individual author and do not necessarily reflect the views or official position of HASSL.

These articles are intended to amplify personal perspectives, lived experiences, and knowledge from our wider community. They are not authored by the HASSL team, and HASSL does not claim ownership over the content.

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