Considering Gender Equality Within Promotional Products

Gender equality has been an ongoing issue for many years, especially in sport. One of the main issues is that men often earn more than women do for doing the same job. One classic example is in football, professional women footballers earn a lot less than men.

The average wage for a man who plays premiership football is £676,000 per year according to a survey by The Independent and the Professional Footballers' Association.

That equates to £13,000 per week and doesn't include the bonuses they get. Male strikers have the highest average annual salary, with £806,000, then midfielders with £754,000, and then defenders, with £653,000 on average... Goalkeepers have the lowest, with £533,000.

Women footballers, on the other hand, earn on average $35,000 which is not even half of what the men earn, and have to go all the way to America to earn as much as that.

One could argue that women’s football isn't as popular as men’s... and this is the reason for the wage difference. However, one profession women do seem to be preferred in is promotional advertising (which you could argue is another gender equality issue in itself).

Have you ever noticed that there are an awful lot of 'promo girls' handing leaflets promoting businesses or products nowadays! This brings us to the question... when it comes to selling a product, who is preferred... promotional girls or promotional boys?

First things first, selling a product has nothing to do with gender. Sales is purely an interpersonal skill of an individual. When selecting a salesperson to promote a product or business, the person should not be selected on gender but selected by there marketing and communication skills.

Why are there more 'promo girls' than 'promo boys'?

Women are said to be more desirable and bring more attraction to something than men (this again can be argued). The term 'sex sells' usually play a big part in this. 'Sex sells' in the past was where companies used pretty half-naked women to draw attention to their product, either in a television advert or on a poster. Some perfume companies also use the 'sex sell' strategy (as you may have noticed on the packaging). However, although in the past it was primarily women who were used in the 'sex sells' strategy, we're now seeing an increasing number of men being used too.

When it comes to selling or handing out your promotional products make sure you choose the right person for the job regardless of their gender!