Ipsos teams up with UN Women-convened Unstereotype Alliance to fight harmful stereotypes

The Unstereotype Alliance – an industry-led coalition convened by UN Women to eradicate harmful stereotypes in advertising content – has announced its first business-to-consumer campaign, 'Say Nothing, Change Nothing' a global campaign designed to mobilize public action spearheaded by award-winning playwright, actor and UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, Danai Gurira.

As a member of the Unstereotype Alliance, Ipsos carried out the research that underpins this campaign, shining a light on the omnipresence of harmful stereotyping faced primarily by under-represented and marginalised communities.

Gathering data from Brazil, South Africa, Turkey, USA and UK, the study found that three in four (73%) people state they regularly see or hear stereotyping yet only one in three (30%) will frequently say something to disagree with it. Half (50%) believe people do not speak up or disagree when they see someone using a negative stereotype, because they do not want to escalate the situation. Two in five (41%) believe people do not speak up or disagree with the perpetrator because they do not know what to say, highlighting an education gap on how to take a constructive stand.

To address this, the Unstereotype Alliance's 'Say Nothing, Change Nothing' campaign intends to raise awareness of the pervasive role harmful stereotypes play in society, encourage conversation on the issue and provide people with resources and educational tools to proactively and safely take action. A helpful guide, Unstereotype 101, explains how to safely confront stereotypes and enables people to become upstanders rather than bystanders, with three quick steps to standing up to stereotypes: Stop, See, Suggest.

The Unstereotype Alliance unveiled three pieces of film called The Candidate, The Game, and Winner have been revealed. These address key issues related to stereotypes linked to race, gender, and disability, underlining the harm caused by silent acceptance of stereotypes. The campaign was produced in partnership with Unilever as a Vice Chair and co-champion of the Unstereotype Alliance and contributing members include Ogilvy, Lions, Ipsos and IPG's Craft.

The social-first campaign focuses on talking to Generation Z in particular as Ipsos' research found that two in five (44%) of 18 – 30-year-olds said they would refer to social media for more information on standing up against stereotypes. A social media movement #IWishIHadSaidinitiated by Danai Gurira, encourages audiences to share their own experiences of stereotyping and the times they wish they had spoken up.

As Ipsos, we are incredibly proud to play a role in the Unstereotype Alliance initiative, striving to eradicate harmful stereotypes from society through data, insights, and collective action.

“Since 2017 the Unstereotype Alliance has united advertising industry leaders, decision-makers and creatives on a shared goal: to end harmful stereotypes in advertising. Despite the headway made across the industry, stereotypes are rife the world over. They continue to stifle progress in every society, deny human rights, and diminish entire groups of people in ways that have real-life consequences. That’s why we’ve chosen now – in the sixth year of the Alliance – to make our message public and come together with our members to launch our very first public awareness campaign. Collective action can help us drive the positive social change in society which is so desperately needed- but we have to ensure people have the language and confidence to carry the movement forward..”

Sara Denby
Head of the Unstereotype Alliance Secretariat at UN Women

“If we want to eradicate stereotypes then we need to speak up. The purpose of this campaign is to encourage people to take action, and to not allow stereotypes to be a part of our lives anymore. We’re asking people across the world to unite with us on this mission, using the tools we have provided to start tackling stereotypes proactively and safely. Together our voices can make a monumental difference to breaking down stereotypes to create a more equitable world.”

Aline Santos
Chief Brand Officer and Chief Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Officer, Unilever

Download the Unstereotype 101 guide

About the Unstereotype Alliance The Unstereotype Alliance seeks to eradicate harmful stereotypes from advertising and media to help create a more equal world. Convened by UN Women, the Alliance collectively acts to empower people in all their diversity (including gender, race, class, age, ability, ethnicity, religion, and sexuality) by using advertising as a force for good to drive positive change all over the world. Since the Unstereotype Alliance’s formation in 2017, national chapters have launched in 12 countries across five continents to tackle culturally nuanced stereotypes on the ground unstereotypealliance.org