In an era where the pursuit of gender inclusivity has become widespread, however performative, Nigerian brands are not exempt from the global movement. With the advent of each International Women’s Day, companies across the country go out of their way to create something to portray them as inclusive, empathetic, or supportive of women’s empowerment. Despite the widespread efforts made by these brands to appear inclusive of women, the reality is that only a handful of them are genuinely committed to this cause. In their attempts to make grand gestures, many brands inadvertently reveal the disconnect between their brand identity and the very women they claim to celebrate. The theme for this year’s IWD is “Invest in women: accelerate progress,” a powerful call to action that showcases the vital role of empowerment in driving societal advancement. By investing in women through leadership roles, economic opportunities, education, and health and well-being initiatives, societies can unlock the full potential of half their population and accelerate progress toward achieving sustainable development goals and a gender-equal life for all women.
As we celebrate another International Women’s Day, ranked from bad to worse, here are nine campaigns that highlight a failure to embody inclusivity, empower, and properly celebrate women by some Nigerian Brands.
1. Hypo’s WO Campaign
Hypo’s International Women’s Day campaign for 2022 was questionable, to say the least. Their poster featured the tagline “It’s a woman’s world,” but with an unconventional twist — they capitalized the letters “WO” and crossed out the word “man.” It’s a WO world?
2. Misplaced Animals
MeristemNg’s attempt to celebrate IWD was an unconventional one. Rather than opting for a straightforward celebration, they chose to post pictures of women’s lips adorned with intricate lipstick art depicting a bear and a lion.
They sealed the deal with phrases like “A lioness is as productive as she is fierce” and “Like a woman, a bear might have a big heart, but she never runs from a fight.” One can’t help but wonder why they veered away from a simple “Happy International Women’s Day” message and instead delved into an animal-themed celebration. We’re unsure of what to say about this, but whoever came up with this clearly has a strange thing for animals.
3. Wema Bank’s Debit Card Scandal
Wema Bank’s image of a woman holding a debit card with the break the bias insignia plastered on the graphic initially appeared well-intentioned.
However, a closer look showed that the card bore a man’s name. We’re left perplexed by Wema Bank’s or Alat’s (their digital counterpart) apparent assumption that women “breaking the bias” implies an expectation for men to bear the financial burden completely. Or did this oversight simply reveal a profound lack of awareness and thoughtfulness in their approach? Either way, it was a failure.
4. ALAT’s Urgent 2k Isn’t Female
When ALAT launched its campaign for International Women’s Day in 2022, it was met with great confusion and an uproar. Understandably so too, the campaign video featured a WhatsApp chat between Chris (who was later revealed to be Christie) and an unnamed individual, who requested an “urgent 2k” from Chris.
The video climaxed with the statement, “urgent 2k isn’t female,” with the word “isn’t” crossed out, leaving viewers to decipher its intended meaning. This bizarre video remains a misguided attempt at pandering to potential customers and its execution is nothing short of irrelevant to the occasion.
5. Union Bank’s “Support Other Women”
For IWD 2024, Union Bank took to X to express a heartfelt sentiment for all women. It reads, “Dear Woman, truly support the other woman. Don’t just chant “Women supporting women” as a mantra.”
It’s easier to conclude that a trainee got lost in the social media department to post this, than to believe that the entirety of Union Bank’s marketing department thought it best to post this. Not only is it demeaning, but it’s also comical, and one might think it’s a ploy to get on the trend table.
6. First Bank’s Spanner and Lipstick
First Bank’s campaign for International Women’s Day in 2020 featured an open red lipstick alongside a spanner, accompanied by the phrase “an equal world is an enabled world.”
While the intent may have been to promote gender equality, the execution backfired completely. By implying that women are solely associated with cosmetics and appearances while men are associated with tools and mechanical work, the analogy between a woman’s lipstick and a spanner reinforces traditional gender stereotypes.
7. First Bank’s He4She s
First Bank’s 2022 IWD campaign featured posters of men posing with the symbol of the #Breakthebias campaign, accompanied by the hashtag #He4She — a sentiment that came across as both offensive and comical.
The bank’s celebration of women highlighted their male executives and managing directors throughout the day. If that’s not a failed IWD celebration, then it becomes challenging to identify what would constitute such a failure.
8. Jenny Bezos
A brand decided it would be a grand idea to alter the appearances of prominent figures. In a move that reeked of absurdity, they placed a blonde wig on the head of Jeff Bezos, the Amazon mogul, calling him “Jenny Bezos.”
Their audacity didn’t stop there, they proceeded to drape a hijab over Aliko Dangote, the renowned businessman, and rechristened him as “Alima Dangote.” Not content with these egregious missteps, they transformed Mark Zuckerberg into “Maria Zuckerberg.” The sheer pretentiousness behind this campaign is glaringly evident and doesn’t require further explanation.
9. REDWOI.F’s DressUp Campaign
REDWOI.F’s 2022 IWD campaign involved images of women dressed in suits and fake beards accompanied by the caption “Women don’t have to be men to get ahead.”
This campaign came across as both ridiculous and wildly disturbing, and it’s difficult to decipher what exactly was the end goal here. The more suitable thing to do would have been the female directors dressing as themselves, but REDWOI.F chose to convey a message of empowerment by taking away the most essential core of being a woman.