Why Don't Advertisers Have Diversity Requirements?

I came across a blog and other writings from a lovely woman named Wendy Katzman. She is a physical therapist who is also spokesperson for the Dove Pro-Age campaign. Her laments in a recent posting are sadly common: Women of all ages are bombarded with images of under-25s with anorexic anatomies, making all others feel inadequate.

I thought about my own responsibilities over the years in corporations. I thought how the women I have met have helped make me more sensitive about being discriminating about age, weight, color, etc. And if I still didn't get the point, likely I would get the 2x4 across the head in the form of training and one-on-one sessions with HR people who would raise my consciousness.

But I also wondered why there aren't similar sensitivities in the commercial world. I love the Dove campaign, with its variety of women in all shapes and sizes. Why should that campaign be notable? Shouldn't we be displaying women of all types in advertisements as standard operating procedure? As my current boss points out, it may be an American phenomenon. She noted that when the two of us worked previously for a global German conglomerate, they had no problems with showing old people with wrinkles, gray hair, and dessicated bodies in their ads... in Germany. But the U.S. ads show idealized, sanitized views of elders, with preternaturally smooth skin and arthritisfree active lifestyles.

Read Ms. Katzman's blog, think about it, and then buy a bar of Dove soap. They may not be 99 and 44/100 percent pure - nobody is - but they deserve our support.