"Rebranding Feminism" Is Not A Good Idea

Elle magazine asked three London ad agencies to create ideas for their November issue.

1. By Mother, London.

Very "in your face." But what does it accomplish?

Feminism is not and has never been a "brand"

"Rebranding Feminism" makes for a very sexy phrase, and any ad agency creative director would jump at the chance to work on this project — most ad agencies think they can brand anything.

A description of the project, via Creative Review:

To create the work, which was made for free by all agencies involved, Elle teamed the ad agencies with three feminist groups: Mother worked with The Feminist Times (the soon-to-be launched version of classic feminist magazine Spare Rib, edited by Charlotte Raven), Brave with teenage feminist campaigner Jinan Younis, and W+K with the founders of the Vagenda website, Holly Baxter and Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett.

But you can't squeeze Feminism to fit an agency brief. There is no clear objective or Unique Selling Proposition for Feminism. And as Jezebel points out, Elle isn't exactly a bastion of feminist ideals.

2. By Brave, London.

Boldly written infographic is still just an infographic.

3. By Wieden & Kennedy, London.

Very nice sound bites.