Getty Images launched a campaign to promote its collection of unstereotyped photos, offering the opposite gender option when searching for images known for being associated with stereotypes. The goal was to influence the algorithm itself and make it show the broadest array of cliché-defying images in the search results.

Our strategy rested on three pillars: digitally, we created an interface to facilitate users’ access to the thousands of unstereotyped images present in the database. To promote the project we created an integrated campaign that included an online film and posts on social media, as well as a full run of posters and print media where we showed that for each sterotyped image, the database has over 1500 unstereotyped images.

The campaign generated considerable earned media and started broader discussions in both specialized media vehicles and in general. The site’s own algorithm is already showing an effect: on Getty Images’ page, searches for the word CEO will bring up a number of women early in the results. And for the terms SUPERMARKET, SPORTS CAR, MAKEUP, and CROCHET, we can see a blend of male and female images, showing that there are no set roles for men and women in today’s world – just as we believe it should be.