Sydney – 8 November 2021
UN Women, the United Nations entity for gender equality, is today launching the Australian chapter of The Unstereotype Alliance, as part of a global coalition to tackle harmful stereotypes in advertising and media content.
The Unstereotype Alliance, is a thought and action platform, that unites the influence of the advertising, media, and marketing community as a force for good.
The Australia National Chapter launches with a core group of 21 leading businesses in the advertising and media community with the objective of securing actionable commitments from across the industry. Global Champions of the Alliance, Unilever, IPG and Mars, will lead the charge with Westpac and Coles joining as National Champions.
COVID-19 has surfaced ingrained inequalities that perpetuate in the Australian advertising landscape, spotlighting ongoing social and economic injustices impacting minority and marginalised groups across the community.
The overarching strategic intent of the chapter is to use advertising as a force for good by depicting progressive portrayals of all people, and ensuring diversity is a priority throughout the entire creative process. The initiative will adopt an intersectional approach to address the representation of gender, race, ethnicity and ability in media and advertising content.
The Australian advertising industry plays a fundamental economic role in society – contributing approximately AU$17.3 billion in spend to drive AU$40 billion to the Australian economy and employing over 200,000 people. This Alliance seeks to unite the collective impact of this investment together with the impetus of Global champions, members and allies.
Ms. Sima Bahous, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of UN Women commented: “The Australia national chapter is the 10th chapter of the Unstereotype Alliance and this launch marks a significant milestone in the journey of the Alliance. I am pleased to see this growing footprint as I firmly believe in the need for on-the ground work to drive impact. I congratulate and welcome all the founding members of the Australia national chapter for taking the bold step of embracing the mission and using advertising as a force for good to eliminate harmful stereotypes in all media and content.”
“Representation of our community in advertising and media content is critical to creating an equal and open society. One of the best ways to ensure that is to have representation across the advertising, marketing, tech and media industry. This group of leaders is coming together to enact real, meaningful change that will impact Australia for the better.” Said Simone Clarke, CEO UN Women Australia.
Leveraging the reach of the United Nations’ 193 Member States, the Unstereotype Alliance provides a global connectedness for members with a shared commitment to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 5 for gender equality. The National Chapters drive change at a local level, responding to culturally driven stereotypes, social norms and attitudes. Australia is the 10th National Chapter, in addition to Brazil, Japan, India, Kenya, Mexico, South Africa, Turkey, UAE, and UK.
For more information on the Unstereotype Alliance, visit www.unstereotypealliance.org.
Founding members and allies include:
Accenture, Bayer Australia, Coles, Diageo Australia, Facebook Australia, Google Australia, IKEA, IPG, Ipsos Australia, Mars Australia, Mastercard Australia, Omnicom, Optus, Publicis Groupe, Salesforce, Snap Inc., Suncorp, Unilever ANZ, WPP AUNZ, Westpac and the Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA).