The U.N. organization dedicated to gender equality and the advancement of women startled more than a few visitors to its website this week with its new ad campaign: Over close-up portraits of women, the ads depict popular search terms starting with phrases like “women should.”
“Stay at home,” “be slaves,” and “be in the kitchen” are among the phrases used to auto-complete the search, based on popular search terms worldwide.
“It’s shocking to see the popular sentiment expressed at half of the world’s population in terms of discrimination and negative stereotypes,” Nanette Braun, U.N. Women’s chief of communications and advocacy, told msnbc.com.
“It started with a Google search and [the ad makers at the agency Ogilvy in Dubai] came across the popular sentiments expressed when you come across searches like ‘women should.’ They were shocked by the results.” Braun said the ads have “created a real global debate about women’s rights, women’s empowerment, and gender equality.”
Erin Delmore