The Sexist Little Piggy Anti-Prize [“Anticena Sexistické prasátečko”] involved a public vote for the most sexist advertisement in the Czech Republic in 2018. It has been organized every year since 2009 by NESEHNUTI, a Czech social and environmental non-governmental organisation, and member of the Czech Women’s Lobby. This year’s 10th edition was the last.
Brno, Dec 6 (BD) – The main goal of the award was to draw attention to the excessive use of gender stereotypes and discriminatory depictions of women and men in advertising, and covers billboards, posters, and online and TV ads.
Eva Bartáková, a member of the women’s rights program at NESEHNUTI, explained that the reason why ‘The Sexist Little Piggy’ is coming to an end is related to the main goal of the organization, which is to raise public awareness of feminism and the issue of sexism. Bartáková believes that the event has achieved its goal, in that more people are now aware of the negative impact that sexism and sexist attitudes can have on Czech society.
Bartáková added that it is now time to educate children about how to shape healthy relationships in terms of women’s rights, feminism, and human rights more generally.
The level of sexism in the ads was evaluated by voting from both an expert committee (experts and academics in the fields of media and marketing) and the general public. By clicking a button on the website ‘prasatecko.cz’, voters could grade each of the 50 ads nominated as: ‘‘It is sexism!’’, ‘‘It is still acceptable’’ and ‘‘Skip’’.
The Three Most Sexist Ads in the Czech Republic in 2018
The 10th and final Sexist Little Piggy award went to the advertiser responsible for the most sexist ad up to the end of November. A billboard advert for the Moravian wine shop in Brno got the most negative reactions. The ad uses a photo of a naked female breast dripping with wine. It was judged to be the most sexist ad, receiving 615 votes out of 782.
Photos. Source: NESEHNUTI.
“Supr Dodávky” was ranked second, with an advert placed on the back of the company’s van depicting female backsides alongside the ambiguous slogan: ‘‘Fill me with all I can take’’. “Doupě” biker club was ranked third, for promoting products called “motorkářská zmrdlina” [ice cream for bikers] with sexually explicit photos and the slogan: ‘‘Lick her up at us’’.
‘‘Advertising shows women as merely decoration and the object of male desire. This contributes to maintaining inequalities in society. If we are used to seeing women just as decoration, it is harder for us to imagine them as prime ministers or presidents,’’ the organizers of NESEHNUTI explained.
The winner of the anti-prize, Dalibor Adamec, the owner of the wine shop, said in a short interview with the Czech local daily Brněnský deník (“Sex v reklamě? Ponižuje ženy a podporuje stereotyp. Anticenu má firma z Brna”, November 28): ‘‘We did not mean to offend anyone. I wanted to catch people’s attention and not have the boring advertisements that are everywhere. It would be a waste of money. I know, it is stupid, but everyone is reading it because of that.’’
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