Feminism In Advertising: Maybelline’s “Through Their Eyes.”
As a feminist who loves to play video games, Maybelline’s “Through Their Eyes” campaign immediately caught my attention. The most notable component is its short video ad that shows male content creators playing an online video game. Their voices have been altered to sound feminine when communicating over voice chat with their teammates. To their surprise and frustration, they are met with verbal abuse when they speak. Two female content creators watch on, unphased. At the end of the video, everyone is brought together to discuss their experiences. The goal of this campaign is to bring awareness to the rampant sexism in the gaming community and encourage people to speak up and call out abuse online.
The “Through Their Eyes” campaign was driven by a survey that reported that 83% of Australian female-identifying gamers have experienced offensive behavior online. “Maybelline’s mission is to give all people the self-confidence to express their beauty, to play, and to make a change,” the campaign’s webpage states. The company hopes to achieve this objective by collaborating with humanitarian organizations, making monetary donations, and getting involved with communities.
Comparatively, Dove launched their Real Beauty campaign in 2004 with a goal of empowering self-confidence in women. Over the years, it has been met with both positive and negative feedback. Despite its noble cause, the advertisements in this campaign uphold the idea that women should be judged by their physical beauty. In 2013, Dove released a video advertisement called Real Beauty Sketches that showed women harshly describing themselves to a sketch artist. Then, the participants were asked to describe each other. This resulted in two different drawings of each woman, with one seemingly more attractive than the other. The message I gathered from the video is that women should have more self-esteem and refrain from brutally criticizing their own appearance. Instead of acknowledging societal norms and beauty standards, the blame is placed on the participants for their feelings of inadequacy. Dove aims for these women to embrace their beauty without questioning or realizing why they do not feel beautiful in the first place. Not the most radical or impactful take, in my opinion.
Unlike Dove, Maybelline’s campaign does not blame women for the problems they face. In the case of sexism in the online gaming community, women are often met with half-hearted “solutions.” Instead of holding sexist people accountable, female gamers are encouraged to abstain from in-game voice chat or to simply play with friends to avoid harassment. The brand does not imply that women need to change themselves or their beliefs in order to solve their problem. Alternately, Maybelline’s message at the end of the video encourages everyone to speak out against sexism and verbal abuse. By acknowledging the issue of sexism in the online gaming community, Maybelline has separated themselves from postfeminist beliefs. “Through Their Eyes” insists that women are entitled to respect and equal treatment in a predominantly male space. The campaign realizes that misogyny still exists and that its perseverance is not women’s fault. Maybelline’s activism feels authentic because of its impact and course of action.
With the frequent appropriation of feminism in advertising, and the dilution of its complex issues, I honestly see the “Through Their Eyes” campaign as a breath of fresh air. Of course, I don’t consider a huge corporation that sells makeup to be the face of feminism and it’s not a perfect campaign. However, it is a step in the right direction and it would be great if other companies authentically advocated for social change. Especially bigger brands that possess a multitude of resources and have the potential to make an impact on consumers. If they are willing to utilize their assets, commit to their values, and follow through on claims to support female empowerment, it may be possible to make a difference on a large scale.
