Unilever
#Unstereotype, not only a moral issue, but a business issue

Achieving a gender balanced workforce is central to the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan. One of our commitments is ‘Opportunities for Women’ which aims to empower 5 million women across our value chain by 2020. We are building a gender balanced organisation: by the end of 2017, 47% of total management were women, up from just 38% in 2010.

We’re also one of the world’s largest advertisers and we recognise the impact and great responsibility we have when it comes to the portrayal of gender norms. Every day, billions of people are exposed to the communications our industry creates. That influence can either be used to reinforce negative stereotypes or to set new standards of empowerment and equality.

In 2016, we launched #Unstereotype, a global initiative to banish stereotypical portrayals of people in our advertising. We developed tools to challenge ourselves throughout the creative process as well as measure our communications to ensure we avoid outdated stereotypes and are consistently advancing progressive portrayals of people. It is already making a difference. Progressive adverts are found to create 25% more branded impact and can drive purchase intent by 18%.

In 2017, Unilever worked with United Nations Women to launch the Unstereotype Alliance, which unites leaders from across business, technology and creative industries to use advertising as a force for positive cultural change.

This is not just about removing stereotypes that diminish or limit the role of women and men, it’s also about strengthening the representation of all people to reflect a more inclusive society.

‘Our job isn’t done until we never see an advert that diminishes or limits the role of women and men in society.’
Aline Santos
Evp Global Marketing & Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer
Unilever