Authorities in the canton of Vaud recently banned an advert they consider sexist, reported RTS. A study last year found half of advertising in Switzerland used discriminatory generalisations.
The offending advert used a picture of a naked man walking in the mountains to advertise insurance. A Vaud government body tasked with combatting sexist advertising issued a ban on the use of the imagery, arguing that such nudity was not relevant to the product being advertised.
Over the last four years, Vaud’s commission has dealt with 16 public advertisement complaints and banned six of the offending adverts, arguing they were sexist.
Not all cantons in Switzerland have laws against sexist advertising. Only Vaud, Geneva, Basel-City, Neuchâtel and Fribourg have such laws.
Discrimination in advertising in Switzerland extends far beyond sexism. One expert interviewed by RTS said the use of stereotypes is widespread. In 2023, half of the nation’s advertising contained references to discriminatory clichés, she estimates.
Several years ago, Swiss Rail ran an advertising campaign that was unapologetically ageist. The central character was an older woman called Yvette Michel (not her real name) who breezily buys train tickets on her mobile phone while far younger people around her continue to buy old paper tickets.
The underlying message is that if someone who might fit the ageist trope of a fat fingered digitally challenged grandmother can buy tickets the modern way, then why can’t you? The campaign, which ran uninterrupted with no notable backlash, also took pot shots at older men. One tagline (see image above) used by Ms Michel was: “even my husband easily remembers it”.
More on this:
RTS article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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