Disturbing Ads
In early 2003, some disturbing advertisements appeared in Seventeen and Teen People , magazines regularly read by pre-teens. These ads used highly sexualized images of girls to market Bongo Jeans. They were produced in cooperation with Macy's department stores, where the jeans are sold.
Dads and Daughters (DADs), the national education and advocacy organization for fathers and daughters, was concerned the ads reinforce a cultural message that daughters are valued more for how they look than for who they are. Seeing an opportunity to affect change on a national level, they decided to take action by appealing to Macy's.
DADs uses Technology for Change™
DADs launched a grassroots letter-writing campaign against the ads. Action Alert emails were sent to 3292 supporters, encouraging them to contact board members at Federated Department Stores (the company that owns Macy's) and request that the ads be dropped. The emails included a link to the DADs web site. Supporters who followed the link saw a letter containing their name and address, so all they had to do was click a button, and the letter was emailed or faxed to Macy's. They also had the opportunity to customize the letter with a personal story or appeal.
Because the Action Alert was integrated with the DADs database, the staff at DADs were able to track results instantaneously. 309 supporters sent emails, a response rate of almost ten percent! 38 people forwarded the Action Alert to friends.
Within three days, Macy's dropped their association with the ads. In a letter thanking Dads and Daughters supporters for bringing the matter to her attention, Carol A. Sanger, Vice President of Corporate Communications for Federated, wrote: “We investigated the matter and have spoken with the vendor after discovering that Macy's had not previously seen or approved … that ad. We agree that it was in very poor taste.” Further, Federated said it would not approve similar ads in the future. DADs followed up by asking supporters to thank Macy's for such a positive response.
“This success shows how a relatively small group of supporters, given the right technology, can really make a difference,” said John Ball of DADs. “It's the modern approach to grassroots action.”
For more information about DADs, visit their web site at www.dadsanddaughters.org .
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