The Netflix show Adolescence has sparked a national conversation about toxic masculinity and its effect on teenage boys, whose online influences may leave them disassociated from real-world empathy. But against a countertrend of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) rollbacks in the US, brands can be reluctant to engage in the cultural conversation, with advertisers preferring to toe the line on gender representation. However, new research from Ipsos has found that progressive portrayal of masculinity in ads can not only serve equitable outcomes for society, but also equity for the brand itself.
Using the Ipsos ad testing database, the market research company looked at more than 2,000 ads from around the world that portray men and boys. Ipsos measured the gender equality score of the ads, using an index of four different aspects of gender portrayal: whether people are shown with respect, if they are portrayed appropriately, how they are represented, and whether they come across as role models.
The research found that ads that score highly on this gender equality index are 37 percent more likely to drive short-term sales than low-scoring ads, and 38 percent more likely to drive brand equity in market. The findings echo research last year from the Unstereotype Alliance, an advertising industry initiative convened by UN Women, which found that inclusive ads provide a 3.5 percent boost to short-term sales, and 16 percent uplift in long-term sales.
Ipsos highlighted McCain’s ‘We Are Family‘ ad from adam&eveDDB as a particularly strong example, driving a 44 percent uplift in base sales. The ad shows different types of families, including younger men in primary care roles, and won an Effie Award in 2024.
But while the industry has leaned into more inclusive portrayals of fatherhood, Samira Brophy, Senior Director, Creative Excellence UK at Ipsos, says advertising needs to go further than the “involved dad” trope if it is to reflect the full range of male experience.
“It’s great that we have that particular trope, but I think we can go further than just showing fathers,” she says. “Why can it not be young men who are not fathers caring for each other and being more empathetic?”
The best a man can get?
Ipsos observed that ads featuring men and boys tend to portray middle-aged dads or young children, leaving a gap of younger men and teenagers largely absent from depictions of domestic life, rather than encouraging their participation. At the same time, research from Ipsos and The Policy Institute at King’s College London found a growing political divide between younger women who are becoming more progressive, and a subset of younger men adopting more traditional values.
Samira Brophy argues that reinforcing old-fashioned views of masculinity is therefore “driving division” in society. “It doesn’t serve anybody except a very small elite group of people, and it seems to be weaponised,” she comments.
And some of the contributors to the research included academics who work with school children, further exposing this missing link between childhood and fatherhood. Mike Nicholson, Founder of Progressive Masculinity, an organisation that aims to promote healthier models of masculinity, found that troubled students aspire to those nurturing depictions of fatherhood, without necessarily understanding the steps required to get there. And Brophy suggests that those steps have not been made visible or aspirational in advertising.
“I think ultimately, advertising and marketing is the industry that tells you what’s aspirational and what’s not,” she says. “We sell aspiration to people. And that includes lifestyles and cultural codes. So at some point we have to really think, are our portrayals relevant, modern, and actually reflecting our audience or not? And there’s an opportunity to shift those portrayals.”
But that shift requires breaking something of a feedback loop among marketers, who can easily mirror images that brands in the same category have already established in order to efficiently communicate to the same target audience. Brophy argues that this not only leads to clichéd portrayals of your audience, it also risks your brand getting lost in a homogeneous category. Conversely, Ipsos research from last year suggested that defying category conventions can help brands stand out from the crowd, boosting ad attention by 21 percent.
However, the same research found that brands were afraid to speak up on certain issues, with fear of cultural backlashes over gender politics on the rise. Brands such as Gillette and Bud Light have come under fire from conservative commentators in recent years for challenging gender stereotypes in their marketing. But Brophy clarifies that portraying masculinity with empathy does not need to be framed as a political campaign for a consumer brand.
“What I’m talking about is not activism,” she says. “What I’m talking about is small sidestep shifts in portrayal, and just rethinking how you portray who is doing what in your creative with your product, and really looking at your target audience in a slightly different way. You can do the right thing in terms of your creative effectiveness, and do the right thing for your brand, and do the right thing for your audience. There’s an opportunity to glamourise empathy, but ultimately do it in a way that’s relevant and true to your brand.”
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