[Prague, 26 June 2013] The Sexist Piggy is a competition for the most sexist advertisement in the Czech Republic. It has been organized since 2009 by NESEHNUTI, a Czech social and environmental NGO, and member of the Czech Women’s Lobby. The aim of the competition is to point out the excessive use of gender stereotypes and discriminatory presentation of women and men in advertising. The competition includes billboards, as well as printed, online and TV ads. The purpose is not to offend companies using sexist advertisements but rather to show them that sexist advertising is offensive to the public.
Nominations for competition are sent by e-mail to NESEHNUTI, which then publishes them online. The results of the competition are announced several months later after public and expert voting.
In the Czech Republic, the most common example of a sexist advertisement is that of a woman being presented stereotypically. Women are presented either as sex objects, mostly in connection with unrelated products or services (such as cars, computers or construction companies). Very often women are also stereotypically presented as housewives (washing clothes, dishes, cooking) while men are stereotypically presented as mechanics, specialists etc. The purpose of the Sexist Piggy is to encourage public discussion about sexist advertising and its possible effects on the values of the society.
The Sexist Piggy predominantly targets individual customers and inspires them to take action against companies using sexist advertising (by boycotting their products/services, contacting them and expressing their disagreement, or filing a complaint to the Czech Advertising Committee).
Studies have shown that media play a key role in the way we perceive male and female roles in society.
The first year of the competition (2009) included 23 nominations and the winning advertisement was chosen by the public. Here you can find the nominated advertisements.
The second year of the competition (2010) included 28 nominations and 411 votes. Two winning advertisements were chosen by the public and by an expert jury. Here you can find the nominated advertisements.
The third year of the competition (2011) included 91 nominations and 10,531 votes. Again, two winning advertisements were chosen by the public and by an expert jury. Here you can find the nominated advertisements.
The fourth year of the competition (2012) included 78 nominations and 9933 votes. The advertisements were divided into three categories: Women as Objects, Women as Part of Body, Other Sexist Advertisements. Again, two winning advertisements were chosen by the public and by an expert jury in each category. Here you can find the nominated advertisements.
The fifth year was just launched 6th of June 2013 in a public event. Here you can find the nominated advertisements.
