When Kathleen Hanna, of the band “Bakini Kill” wrote the politically charged Riot Girrrl Manifesto (1992), she started a movement. She questioned male dominance in society and empowered women to speak out against injustices. Hanna’s declarations are echoed by various big businesses their corporate social responsibility (CSR) missions today. Companies such as Always, Google, Pantene, Under Armor, and Verizon are shifting gears and embracing the new CSR tactic coined “femvertising.” Below I highlight several ways in which companies are incorporating this tactic into their CSR work.
fem·ver·ti·sing (noun)
Advertising that employs pro-female talent, messages, and imagery to empower women and girls
(Definition provided by SheKnows)
Always: The Always #LikeAGirl social media campaign is aimed at improving the self esteem of adolescents from a young age. The famous #LikeAGirl Youtube video (displayed below) has garnered over 56 million views. In addition to the well-known social media campaign, Always has made an impact through donating funds for puberty education and partnering with UNESCO to improve gender equality worldwide. The company has also created a website called Ban Bossy where for girls to learn leadership tools and a forum for girls to ask questions related to puberty called BeingGirl.com.
Verizon: The Inspire Her Mind campaign encourages girls to pursue their interests in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Verizon launched a commercial (displayed below) that coincides with the Inspire Her Mind campaign last June. The Verizon Innovative App Challenge is another avenue that the company took to inspire young students to pursue STEM education and embrace mobile technology. Middle school and high school students create a concept for a mobile app compete for $20,000 worth of grants. Verizon also joins a vast number of corporations in supporting the Girls Who Code initiative.
Check out some other great “femvertising” techniques:
Not So Big Bad Business 
Another very thought provoking blog, bravo!
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Already been talking about the issues you raised in this blog with people at work
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