Toy ads in Spain stop being sexist as of Thursday, with exceptional associations between dolls and girls or cars and boys, for example, according to a code agreed between the government and brands.
“Typically, toy advertising messages avoid gender bias in the representation of girls and boys by promoting a pluralistic and egalitarian image of the roles they may play in order to prioritize and facilitate their free choice of toys. “, reads paragraph 35 of the new Code of Self-Regulation for the Advertising of Children’s Toys, which comes into force in Spain on Thursday 1 December.
Thus, further in the text, the exclusive association of girls with “toys that reproduce the role of caregivers, housework and personal beauty” and boys with “toys that promote experimentation, physical activity or technological development” will be avoided.
To this end, advertisements that feature multiple children “will avoid being of only one gender” and will also “avoid images that sexualize girls by avoiding them appearing dressed and made up as adult women. and is referred to as “sexy” or obligatory to please the male sex.”
Toys will also no longer have an “overt or tacit” indication that they are exclusively for children of the same sex.
On the other hand, manufacturers will also try to avoid using contrasting colors or color schemes traditionally used to identify female and male gender in the same campaign, advertisement or communication, i.e. colors, for example.
“Advertising should also not be organized with sex classification of toys,” and creators “should promote diversity and gender equality and try to use inclusive language,” the document, which goes into effect Thursday, says Thursday, just in time for the ad. christmas season.
The text states that from now on in Spain, toy advertisements will not contain images “inciting discrimination or persecution” of minorities, “always trying to offer images representing multiple profiles”.
Toy ads will also attempt to “present positive role models by encouraging healthy, responsible and sustainable consumption whenever possible,” the document says, which “encourages advertisers to include diversity in advertising.”
The new code, signed by the Spanish government and the Spanish Toy Manufacturers Association, contains 64 measures to regulate the advertising of toys intended for children, replacing the previous code from 2005.
According to the text, the code is now adapted to the social and technological evolution that has taken place during this time, with specific rules also, for example, for advertising on the Internet or through mobile phones (which in the latter case is expressly prohibited if directed at minors aged 14 years).
Among other aspects, there is also the commitment of the loyalty product to the representation that is made of it in advertising and the rules of how adults are presented in advertising.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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