Looking at Christmas characters through a gendered lens
A view from WACL Member Lori Meakin. This post featured in Campaign UK on December 5th 2024.
Default-male bias has a real-world impact on women and girls, but it remains incredibly pervasive. It’s what makes journalists repeatedly forget about incredible sportswomen until they’re challenged by guys like Andy Murray and Pep Guardiola, who have famously pointed out the oversight.
Clearly, men should go further than just pointing out that women exist. Murray and Guardiola are examples of active allies who support valuing women in all kinds of ways. But too often in creative industries, we still see people regularly making the same mistake as the interviewers and behaving as if male is the default gender, with women being either a slightly niche alternative, or overlooked entirely.
It’s this default-male bias that makes the majority of brand mascots “dude-coded” even in women’s professional sport. A refreshing change is Ellie the Elephant, the New York Liberty WNBA mascot who “is unapologetically feminine and flamboyant” and who has become a commercial and cultural phenomenon.
Anthropomorphic characters are a great test of this deep-rooted gender bias, as there’s no issue about finding the right talent. It’s purely a question of whether the people dreaming up these characters and stories, from fun veg to monsters, animals to kitchen implements, are actively thinking about women as much as men.
So how well do this year’s Christmas ads fare with gender parity?
Why “male” is still the creative default
Seasonal characters are central to many Christmas ad plots and, not surprisingly, they’re mostly male. Think traditional staples like Santa, Rudolf and the gingerbread men, but also new seasonal friends like Monty the Penguin, Edgar the Dragon, Kevin the Carrot – all of whom could have easily been created female, but weren’t.
So a special shout out to Very for its hyper-feminine-coded pink flamingos leaving sparkling glitter trails across the Christmas skies, and to M&S for giving its fans a double dose of Dawn French this year in human as well as fairy form.
Initially I was delighted to see that Aldi’s Kevin the Carrot ad included his wife Katie, this time as his action partner. Although, if we are going to celebrate guys stepping up to heroically support women, I’m not sure that being imprisoned by a humbug Harridan is what’s keeping most of us girls up at night right now. Beyond the “evil witch” and “damsel in distress” female character tropes, I also laughed wryly at Kevin getting all the credit: despite Katie playing a key part in the heroic action and the freed Christmas Spirit working her magic by sprinkling her fairy dust everywhere. The story ends with “Well done, Kevin, you’ve cracked it”. Hmmm.
I guess that’s not surprising, given that a huge majority of the festive season’s domestic and emotional labour falls to women, and often goes undervalued. So big thanks to Boots and John Lewis for playfully or poignantly highlighting that for their audiences.
Maybe next year we’ll see some feminine-coded sweets or veg in more positive and valued roles. Now that’s not a sentence I ever expected to say.
Morrisons presents a real mix of gender roles again this year, both in its human characters and its anthropomorphic singing oven mitts. And I love how although its underlying message is profound and timely, its tone isn’t sombre. Instead, it channels pure joy, as well as featuring a truly diverse cast of puppet characters, and showcasing a feast of food that actually makes you feel hungry,
What I really love about this ad, though, isn’t just what’s happening on screen. It’s how it conjures up joyous images that have played rent-free in my head since childhood: Little Fizzy the cleaner, finally taking centre stage where he belongs. (Thanks as well to Amazon for bringing us that live-action story of the triumph of an everyday hero.) The incredible Talullah, who absolutely stole the show from Bugsy. And this song’s clapping, slapping final dance. (IYKYK).
Those pop-cultural references may go over the heads of many in adland, but will resonate powerfully with millions, including midlife women who are the most overlooked economic powerhouse on the planet.
Reimagining gender roles in advertising
Then, of course, there’s Disney’s tale of a boy and his octopus. This clingy little cephalopod channels huge kawaii, the achingly cute quality that remains popular with many women and girls, but that boys are often taught to “grow out of” as they become men. Taika Waititi’s loving direction, the sheer talent of the young actor, and the film’s references to Moana, Lilo & Ariel alongside Buzz Lightyear and Mickey Mouse combine into a beautiful example of how we might role-model greater nurturing, empathy and emotional expression in boys and men, too.
Just imagine how much easier it would be for men to take care of their mental health if we stopped pressurising older boys to stop caring.
So next year, let’s unleash the power of our industry’s imagination even further. Let’s magically manifest the world as it could be, not just replicate how it’s always been. And let’s share more joy, cuteness and sparkle – for everyone.
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