Lowe Lintas has produced a new campaign for the Equal Opportunities
Commission focusing on the stereotypes that teenagers face when making
choices in school.
The campaign, entitled "what's stopping you?", launches this week. It
challenges young people, teachers and careers advisors to question ideas
about men and women that often affect subject and career choices.
The ads, which will feature in teen magazines and postcards in schools,
use an image from the film Billy Elliot and a picture of the 1966 World
Cup, with a girl's head superimposed on Bobby Moore's body, to challenge
traditional ideas about women's and men's roles.
The ads use the strapline: "Women. Men. Different. Equal."
Helen Rae, the account manager at Lowe Lintas, said: "The campaign is
designed to motivate young people to have the confidence to choose
whatever they want to do, irrespective of the stereotypes that surround
them."
The campaign follows research by the EOC, which revealed that gender
stereotypes are still strongly reflected in choices at school and these
choices lead to imbalances in the workplace.
Julie Mellor, the chair of the EOC, said: "We won't get true equality in
the workplace unless measures are taken at school to encourage young
people to pick from all the options available. Many employers have told
us they are keen for the EOC to tackle this issue."
