GOAL
To participate on a Quebec task force on body image to provide meaningful input, show leadership in responsible advertising and represent the interests of all Canadian advertisers.
THE ISSUE
The prevalence of super-thin models on fashion runways and in advertising has attracted negative media attention around the world. In Quebec, young people concerned about the negative impact on girls and women of images of extreme thinness signed petitions in 2007 and 2008, asking the provincial government to take action.
In March 2009, Christine St-Pierre, Quebec’s Minister of Culture, Communications and Women’s Issues, established a task force to develop a voluntary “Charter” that would promote a healthy and diversified body image; engage public and private stakeholders in actions that would combat weight-related conditions, such as anorexia and bulimia; and encourage a more realistic representation of diverse body types.
ACTIONS
The ACA participated on the task force, along with retailers, advertisers, healthcare practitioners, government representatives, and fashion and production industry partners. Our seat at the table provided the opportunity to contribute to the creation of the Charter and, in so doing, represent the interests of Canadian advertisers.
In our discussions with government, the ACA underscored our long-standing commitment to responsible advertising. We provided direction that helped create a Charter that would be acceptable and actionable to Canadian advertisers and industry stakeholders, as well as fulfill the government’s mandate to ensure commercial messages provided a more realistic and balanced representation of diverse body types.
OUTCOME
The resulting Québec Charter for a Healthy and Diverse Body Image (Charte québecoise pour une image corporelle saine et diversifiée), to which the ACA is a signatory, outlined seven pledges to promote healthy and diverse body types.
As a further result of our actions, the ACA was instrumental in stopping a proposal that would have imposed written disclaimers on ads to indicate when retouching had been used in the production of an ad. We also stopped a proposal that would have imposed impractical quotas for depicting various body types in commercials.
For more information on this issue, contact Paul Hétu, Vice President at (514) 842-6422 / 1-800-883-0422 / phetu@ACAweb.ca.
