by Ah, International Women’s Day, the day when all businesses close their gender pay gap, childcare becomes free and women everywhere take the day off. Oh no. Patience. It’s the day when brands and businesses make empty gestures pretending to care about #equality and men around the world complain that they don’t have an International Men’s Day (they do, it’s in November).
Over the years, we’ve seen some truly terrible branding failures from those trying to empower and promote their love for women while usually selling something. Here are three completely wild examples, plus another that’s not so bad, but still seems like a mistake.
01. Jackie the Ripper
Last year, London Dungeon decided to do something that absolutely no one expected. He renamed the serial killer Jack the Ripper Jackie the Ripper and decided that the killer would be played by a female actor rather than a male actor. A tweet from iVisitLondon (opens in new tab) she said: “Today is the day female killers get the recognition they deserve, in the @London Dungeon for one day only Jack the Ripper has been called Jack the Ripper.”
Apparently, the move was made to draw attention to the theory that Mary Pearcey, who was convicted of murdering her lover’s child in 1980, was once a suspect in the Jack the Ripper case. I think you will agree that knowing that some women are also murderers is exactly what we should be celebrating on the one day of the year that we have dedicated to our ’cause’.
I would also like to reiterate that this was last year.
02. #NoMoreStretchMarks
If there’s one thing women love, it’s being reminded of all the things that are seemingly “wrong” with their bodies. Lumenis decided to give us all an extra special reminder in 2019 when they advertised their stretch mark treatment. Brilliant. I also love that one of the hashtags used was #PowerOfWomen. Because who doesn’t feel empowered when they remove something that society deems unacceptable – but is most likely the result of a man’s creation – from their skin?!
Lumenis salutes the women who shape the world every day. Great initiative by various dermatologists in cities participating in #HappyWomenDay #Woman #LumenisResurFX #LumenisIndia #LumenisAesthetic #PowerOfWomen pic.twitter.com/Vcj9ydeyx6March 8, 2019
03. Free anti-spiking kit
Who doesn’t want a free anti-spike test with their clothing order? This is a campaign in partnership with Check Your Drink with the hashtag #stopthespike. So women are the ones who are encouraged to stop this problem. I can’t imagine such a campaign coming out on International Men’s Day.
This was spotted by @cheeruplove (opens in new tab)who has also pointed out some other outrageous examples of IWD (see below):
04. Women’s Literature Award
This is not so outrageous. But just changing your logo to pink, or really doing any kind of pink-themed rebranding is, in my opinion, completely pointless. It says nothing and does nothing but reinforce the idea that women like pink (some of us do, some of us don’t, in case anyone is still unclear).
The Women’s Prize for Fiction says it wants to “reclaim pink” because of Scarlett Curtis’s Feminists Don’t Wear Pink and Other Lies (opens in new tab) (although Scarlett Curtis managed to point out the error in her tweet).
Pink is woven into all of March’s activities, “including cozy Stripe & Stare pajamas and beautiful enamel pins that contribute to the Women’s Prize Trust, the charity behind the Women’s Prize.”
“With our new PJ’s getting cozy and settling down with a favorite book it never looked so stylish!” states on his website (opens in new tab). She also says on her website that she knows “that both reading and writing, and our work around them” develop skills, including communication skills, self-confidence and health and well-being. She sells some fun t-shirts with female authors on them and the pins are pretty cool, I’m just not sure where the pajamas fit into the equation.
Pink isn’t just a color, it’s an attitude. We are SO excited to unveil the brand new, hot pink logo to celebrate Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day 🙌 pic.twitter.com/7pseAo19msMarch 1, 2023
How can brands do better in IWD?
If you own a brand or business and are wondering what to do in IWD, the first thing to do is check your gender pay gap. If the business is a UK company with more than 250 employees, you can check the pay gap by tweeting @PayGapApp (opens in new tab) for {company name}. Tweets with #IWD will also receive an automatic pay gap quote tweet if that information is available (the contrast between the brand’s message and its pay gap makes for interesting reading). See below for more information on how it works.
Hello hello 👋 #IWD2023 is almost here, and so are corporate platitudes. And once again we bring you the data to see who’s the real support for #InternationalWomensDay and who still has work to do. Here’s a reminder of how it works ⬇️ (1/8)March 6, 2023
After you have a plan in place to cover any pay gaps, secondly, you could try asking the women in your organization what they would like. Imagine that. Sophie Walker (opens in new tab) also has some good ideas:
One week to go until we hit the annual corporate disaster also known as #InternationalWomensDay2023 – if you’re planning to join this branding bunfight, here are some helpful tips to survive until you have to do another 24 hours of performative feminism next year:- >March 1, 2023
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