UltraTune: The Last Straw For Our Content Approval Systems

The latest UltraTune campaign featuring the boobs of Pamela Anderson bedazzling Warwick Capper into a sexual trance unable to control himself is the absolute epitome of misguided marketing but worst of all is indicative of our broken approval system. This campaign is so far off the current customer needs and doing more harm to our damaged society, but we can all learn some valuable lessons and start making change for good. 

Listening to a YouTube interview of the UltraTune CEO he claims their audience loves this kind of work and justifies, not just bad advertising, but marketing that is missing the real audience and doing harm to our society. Here’s how this is a wonderful example to the rest of the industry about what NOT to do, and shows us how we can put in place better approval processes.

Firstly, this is no feminist rant by any means. This is a business performance problem as much as it is a known issue that is damaging our society for both women and men, and setting back a lot of good work to reach equality for all. This is no harmless little comedy piece here. It is a deep-rooted problem for the safety of our women, for women’s ability to be taken seriously in leadership positions, for our understanding of the real customer, and it is also setting back the standing of men in society too. This work is perpetuating the stereotype that men are almost hypnotised and powerless to control themselves when confronted with a woman’s sexuality. This ad should never have been approved by our industry approval bodies. Where were they? How could this slip through?

When damaging stereotypes are impacting society in this way we have a responsibility as an industry to stand up and do something about it, and to all learn from it. As an industry we need better accountability and better regulations in place so this doesn’t happen again. Mostly this type of work is produced out of ignorance. As much as I don’t enjoy giving attention to such a harmful (and just plain bad) piece of advertising, it is important that we all learn something from this. So, here are some facts to consider and some things to do about it as a collective.

Sexualisation linked with abuse & exclusion

Worst of all, before we even begin to talk about the strategic problems with this campaign, let’s think about the known correlation between sexualisation of women in media and the link with sexual assault and abuse. This alone is enough to show us that we need to stop this.

Unicef cites[1] that every 10 minutes, somewhere in the world, an adolescent girl dies as a result of violence. Nearly one in five girls is sexually abused at least once in her life. Many studies show that women are shown in a sexual manner from 51.8% of all advertising produced and if in a men’s magazine up to 76% of the time.

According to Plan International Australia’s Rewrite Her Story Research[2] into depictions of gender in media they confirm that across their 19-country survey an overwhelming 94% of respondents believe that women in leadership are treated less well because of their gender. If our community continues to see campaigns like this on air we’re going to take a very long time to see any improvement in this horrendous number.

Geena Davis Founder and Chair of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media (GDIGM) leads the way in research on media representation by gender and the impact this has on society. Davis says “Representation in advertising is especially influential in shaping societal values, given the sheer volume of ads we are exposed to each day”. There is plenty of solid data[3] to back this, and some promising improvements on the way (but perhaps not yet in Australia!).

There is no disputing the connection between sexualisation of women in media and the direct impact it has on how men and boys see women. Time to stop, UltraTune.

Sex Drive Is Not A Human Entitlement

The stereotype that a man is unable to control his sexual desire is the root of many of these problems for our society and is exaggerated often in our advertising creative fuelling unhealthy beliefs in men who justify this behaviour, and even feel sexual entitlement.

New scientific research by Dr Emily Nagoski, Director of Wellness Education at Smith Collect Massachusetts reveals in her book,[4] “Come as you are”, new science that disproves the myth that there is such a thing as a sex drive. The author assigns blame to this myth to much of the world’s sexual abuse against women. A drive is a motivational system to deal with life-and-death issues like hunger or being too cold, however we are actually not going to die if we don’t have sex. Spontaneous drive as depicted by the UltraTune campaign is depicting a stereotype that is a scientific myth, but is fostering unhealthy behaviour in our society that has damaging results for women.

“Men out of control with desire is a scientifically false myth that is harming our women”

Strategic Brand Performance

So, let’s move past the social impact of this type of harmful work and think about the strategic performance of the marketing strategy that led to this work in a purely capitalist context, for a moment.

UltraTune have made the rookie error of considering their past sales data as evidence of who their potential audience is. Think about the conditions that created this audience and consider the unconscious (or not so unconscious) bias that was in place when this data was captured. When bias is in place during the sales process it will keep being amplified through every touch point and give a false impression of who their potential customer is. The CEO of UltraTune claims his audience ‘loves this work’, however they were already biased, and ignorant to the impact of this work. Listening to this closed market is not an indication of the potential and a big limitation to sales growth. Given this audience is a closed community, ever diminishing, it is a limited opportunity for the brand and missing out on a lot of growth potential.

This is the same phenomenon the gaming industry experienced back before the early 90’s with most of the games targeted to men. The product developed was a masculine product, the packaging looked masculine, the advertising that was produced was all masculine and the media channels chosen were all masculine. If you were a marketer back in those days you’d believe with all your heart that this was your target audience and even your market research would come back telling you with confidence what this biased audience loved and didn’t love. Ignorant marketers would use that research to guide decisions moving forward. If all brands did this they’d be stuck forever without keeping in touch with the future customer. If Nintendo had been as closed-minded to this backwards facing strategy they’d never have invented the Nintendo Wii and produce a genderless and ageless game solution that captured the market with unprecedented results. The past sales data is not where the best performing brands focus.

“Don’t listen to your sales data if unconscious bias formed the results in the first place”

The real buyer

Right now the majority of automotive purchases are made by women with 65% involved in new car purchases and even more if you add in used cars[5]. Truthfully, most categories are dominated by women (which may not actually be a good thing in truth). If the potential audience in this case is a minimum of 65% women and 35% men, then a smarter marketer would consider a gender neutral approach to attract all potential customers who are in the market for parts and service, without polarising one or the other. To open up the market reach the opportunity for UltraTune could reach nearly three times the potential that this polarising campaign reaches. This statistic is backed by case study results by Tourism Australia, amongst others, for moving away from out-dated customer demographics like this too.

Ironically other studies show that if you ask men who is the primary decision maker in automotive purchases, something like 65%[6] say that they are the main purchaser, yet evidence is to the contrary by the exact same percentage. Ironic really. There are many questions around why they say one thing here and do another, and it may be the bias is making men feel they need to appear to wear the pants, when they really don’t.

Customers are now voting with their wallets more than ever and hopefully a campaign like this will further fuel that trend too. As the Edelman Trust Barometer[7] clearly shows us, as a global community we want more values driven brands, to do more good for the world as a collective (especially where Government is failing), and we want to see what CEO’s stand for and how it impacts our people positively. This study also shows that women are unhappy in general with the way our leadership is working and it is time for change.

With the majority of decisions made by women now, let’s all trust they’ll do that voting with their wallet and we’ll finally get change where our authorities are failing us.

Our approval bodies

Right now if there is a complaint through the Advertising Standards Board the client is listed and accountable publicly with their name listed on a complaints leaderboard; however the advertising agency is not, nor is the production house involved.

The creative agency at the very least is so crucial to generating the work and backing the ideas that ultimately get over the line. They are not the innocent party here and need to become accountable too.  There is no lack of good work available to a brand, and to resort to these gender-damaging messages is absolutely unnecessary. Humour gives plenty of scope to be risqué and make a statement, but without harming anyone in the process. I would say it is ignorance, greed and laziness that drives this kind of work when there are so many other ways to make a statement and build awareness and profile. Like my recent market survey show us, the best talent are no longer in the big agencies. This ad is evidence that our industry model is continuing to fail.

I propose that the agency and production company are equally outed in public on the Ad Standards Board leaderboard alongside the client in order to become more accountable.

This campaign will have been approved by FreeTV’s Commercials Acceptance Division before going to air. Currently in Australia the regulations and control around stereotypes is less stringent than in other countries and we’re sadly in trainer wheels and lagging on the world stage here. Many times FreeTV simply give a warning that the brand in question could face public backlash but ultimately still allow the work to run in the first place. Later, waiting for the Ad Standards Bureau to make a final call on the matter but not before the ad has been shown to millions and millions of people in society and the damage is done.

The United Kingdom changed their regulations last year with the first work banned[8] depicting harmful stereotypes against men, suggesting men are poor at parenting in a campaign for Kraft Philadelphia. Since then, the UK has continued to regulate and reduce the harm to society by damaging creative work. Some have found the adjustment difficult and accuse authorities of being too PC. In my experience as a voice for inclusion it is those who are carrying a lack of understanding and unconscious bias who usually say that kind of thing (whether it is said by a woman or a man).

FreeTV as a self-regulatory body need to take more responsibility and prevent this work going to air in the first place.

“Our approval bodies need to be more accountable”

How we resource and crew

As an industry community we are gender biased before we start, with the average worker in the typical agency being 27 and male according to the Communications Council data[9]. It is very likely that we are not equipped as an industry to see clearly when we are being biased as we are operating with a majority from a position of privilege.

Take a look at behind-the-scenes footage of the filming of this UltraTune campaign and you will see there is not a woman in sight. If the production industry were more committed to a 50/50 ratio on set then we would also have more measures in place to avoid such harmful work.

“Our agencies and production teams need more gender balance to overcome their blind spots”

There are plenty of amazing and much more diverse talent in our industry, outside the typical ad agency if only marketers demanded it. Time for marketer’s to put some expectations on the team’s they hire. There are incredible technologies available now where all parties in the supply chain have to disclose their biases, and even modern slavery, with brands able to report back as part of their legal obligation to their board and shareholders. Brands need to become more accountable to their supply chain and supplier decisions now more than ever.

“The buck stops with the brand”.

No, this is not a feminist rant. This is an egalitarian perspective backed by action. I’m in discussions with each approval body and calling on industry reform. (Anyone wishing to join me please get in touch).

I call on brands to vote with their supply chain decisions and be more responsible. Many don’t even ask who is delivering their work beyond the front face of a few key leaders in their agency and film companies and have no clue how much bias they are buying. 

There is no fiscal value in creating work like this by UltraTune. There is no societal good that can come of this. There is no industry good for anyone and diminishes our value and reputation. The approval system needs a shake-up. The supply chain needs more accountability. Time to fix this as a community.

Anne Miles is founder of Suits&Sneakers, the home of some of the world’s top talent no longer available in the typical ad agency or film company model. Anne is an advocate for diversity and inclusion and also trains and consults on Unconscious Bias through the creative process.

Note: If you are in immediate danger:

If anyone is experiencing sexual abuse or at risk of violence and in immediate danger please contact 000 or seek support from the National Sexual Assault and Family Violence Service on 1800 737 738 to find your nearest crisis support. Note that all genders are impacted by sexual abuse and violence and not just women.

[1] Unicef Statistical Snapshot Of Violence Against Adolescent Girls https://www.unicef.org/publications/files/A_Statistical_Snapshot_of_Violence_Against_Adolescent_Girls.pdf

https://www.unicefusa.org/stories/not-object-sexualization-and-exploitation-women-and-girls/30366

[2] Plan International’s Rewrite her story research project: https://plan-international.org/girls-get-equal/rewrite-her-story

[3] GDIGM Reports on Gender In Media https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/feature/diversity-inclusion/

[4] Emily Nagoski has a PhD in health behaviour and is the director of Wellness Education at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. Her new book on the science of sex is Come As You Are (Simon & Schuster)

[5] Sources: hbr.org/2009/09/the-female-economy www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-business/10783665/Womenomics-why-women- are-the-future-of-our-economy.html ^she-conomy.com/facts-on-women

[6] Data source to be confirmed.

[7] Edelman Trust Barometer 2019 Global Study https://www.edelman.com/sites/g/files/aatuss191/files/2019-02/2019_Edelman_Trust_Barometer_Global_Report.pdf

[8] UK first gender damaging ad ruling https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/aug/14/first-ads-banned-for-contravening-gender-stereotyping-rules

[9] Communications Council Industry Survey data provided to Anne Miles independently. Other surveys here https://www.communicationscouncil.org.au/public/content/ViewCategory.aspx?id=1592