Super Bowl: There was a depressing lack of gender equality in the commercials

Statistics show only 64% of the national commercials shown had no women in speaking roles

Helen Mirren advertising Budweiser in an advert aired during the Super Bowl

This year’s Super Bowl was quite the spectacle. Beyoncé thrilled with her performance of her new single “Formation” while Lady Gaga wowed with her version of the Star Spangled Banner, both of whom overshadowed the actual headliners Coldplay (oh, and Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson were there).

Yet, despite two incredible female-led performances and 46 per cent of the viewers being women, advertisers fell way short of reflecting this in their commercials.

According to data collected by Motto, 64 per cent of the national commercials shown had no women in speaking roles.

What’s worse is that 25 per cent of the commercials didn’t feature any women at all, in comparison to the 5 per cent that didn’t feature men.

In the 41 commercials that did actually feature women, only 44 per cent gave women speaking roles, while, of the 29 that featured voice overs, just two of them (7 per cent) were done by women.

Behind the camera the statistics are even worse, with only 5 of the 55 commercials had female directors. That means there were 10 times as many adverts directed by men as there were women.

“It’s the most important day in American television,” award-winning director Amy Hill told Motto. “The Super Bowl is an incredible platform, and that’s why commercials that run during it are such a big deal to us.

“Change starts with the advertisers. Brands have a responsibility to create parity in how they talk to their audiences.”