Recognising the power of partnerships to accelerate progress, this industry-led initiative convened by UN Women unites advertising industry leaders, decision-makers and creatives to end harmful stereotypes in advertising.

 

The Unstereotype Alliance has been embraced by businesses and organisations championing the end of bias in advertising. The Unstereotype Alliance works to affect positive cultural change by using the power of advertising to help shape perceptions. Our members collaborate to help create a world without stereotypes, empowering people in all their diversity, whether that be related to gender, race, class, age, ability, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, language or education.

Code of principles

• Depicting people as empowered actors
• Refraining from objectifying people
• Portraying progressive and multi-dimensional personalities

We aim to foster an unstereotyped culture, through:

• Driving gender balance in senior leadership and creative roles
• Directly addressing unconscious bias, diversity and inclusion through training as a standard across the industry
• Challenging each other as advertisers and advertising agencies to deliver the best unstereotyped marketing content
• And we pledge to hold ourselves accountable by setting clear goals and measuring change annually

"Stereotypes reflect deep-rooted ideas of femininity and masculinity. Negative, diminished conceptions of women and girls are one of the greatest barriers for gender equality and we need to tackle and change those images wherever they appear. Advertising is a particularly powerful driver to change perceptions and impact social norms. UN Women is excited to partner with the foremost industry shapers in this Alliance to challenge and advance the ways women are represented in this field." 

— Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Former Executive Director of UN Women