How Mars is championing gender equality in advertising

Mars Inc., the food, confectionary and petfood manufacturer, is taking a nuanced approach as it tackles outmoded norms and gender stereotypes in advertising.

Mars, Inc., a multinational manufacturer of confectionery, petcare and food products, has reported that women made up 45% of characters in its advertising in 2021.

While that figure still comes in below the objective of reaching equilibrium in gender representation in the company’s ads, it also represents an 11 percentage-point increase since Mars began to analyze gender equity in its advertising in 2018.

The McLean, Virginia-based enterprise, known for brands such as Skittles, Pedigree, and M&M’s, has driven progress in advertising equity through a collaboration with the Geena Davis Institute (GDI) on Gender in Media, a non-profit research organization, that...

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