E10: Jean Kilbourne: Has advertising to women changed over the past half a century?

Jean Kilbourne, a pioneering activist, speaker and writer, joins Mad Influence to discuss her research for over half a century into how advertising represents women. We talk about what it was like starting her career as a young female in the 1960s and how things have changed since then. We discuss why her critically acclaimed Killing Us Softly documentary shocked the world when it was first released in 1979, and why people thought advertising's influence was trivial at the time. We chat about Jean meeting with UK parliament and the stereotyping regulation that came into place afterwards. We also discuss social media and its role in the recent storming of the US Capitol, why Jean has never been advocating for censorship of advertising, and which people have inspired her most in her career. 

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Key topics

- Representation of women in advertising

- Photoshopping and the pursuit of perfection

- How advertisers can use their power to make positive change vs 'fauxvertising'

- Social media and the storming of the US Capitol

- Conscious capitalism

- The 3% movement

- Stereotyping in advertising

- Media literacy

- Feminism 

- Advice for young people starting their careers in marketing

Where to find us

Guest: www.jeankilbourne.com and @jeankilbourne on Twitter and Facebook.

Host: @madinfluencepod on Twitter and linkedin.com/in/helensaul/

This episode was recorded remotely with music by Joseph McDade