Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Women Are Brutally Savaging Discovery's New Sexist Campaign In The Best Way

Women Are Brutally Savaging Discovery's New Sexist Campaign In The Best Way
Discovery Channel, @Julia_SCI/Twitter

Women call out the channel for its tone deaf new ad.

For a brand dedicated to science, learning and exploration, Discovery Channel's new ad campaign seems to have skipped over one pretty important fact:

the existence of women.


For over 30 years the Discovery Channel has been celebrating the beauty and craziness of this tiny planet we call home, but somehow in its latest ad campaign the educational channel managed to forget about half of the people who live here.

As part of its global re-branding this week Discovery launched a TV spot featuring its new tagline "The world is ours."

The only problem, except for one naked women the ad featured nothing but men.

Set to the tune of Hooked on a Feeling male stars from a number of Discovery Channel shows laughed, danced and sang along in an unmitigated "bro-fest."



Now women all over, including a group of female scientists are calling out the channel for its tone deaf "bro-down", reminding the brand that women like discovering things too.






Science communicator and aspiring wildlife host Ashley Gary was one of the many women disappointed by the ad.

Gary told CNET in an interview:

"So many girls and women look to that channel for not only entertainment, but information about our world, but yet we weren't included."

So Gary and a group of other women scientists teamed up and put together their own video.

Gary said:

"If no one else will promote us and our work, we'll be our own cheerleader and promote ourselves."

Lead by biologist Sarah McAnulty a group of women scientists, communicators and researchers set out to remind Discovery that the world was a much bigger place as they lip-synced and danced to Eve's Let Me Blow Ya Mind in their labs and out in the field.

Watch their video here.


Needless to say minds were blown by the amazing celebration of women in the STEM fields.









As amazing as the response was, many were disappointed that it was necessary in the first place. Though for many women in the STEM fields exclusionary thinking like that shown in Discovery's ad is nothing new.

Before the ad aired Vulcanologist Jess Phoenix was already familiar with Discovery's attitude towards women in STEM.

Phoenix told CNET:

"When members of my team have pitched me as a show host to Discovery and other networks, we've been told that their audiences won't believe I'm a scientist."

Women like neuroscientist BethAnn McLaughlin who is leading the #MeTooSTEM movement keep McAnulty feeling optimistic about the future for women in STEM though.

"These groups make me feel hopeful for the future women in STEM, even if it feels depressing from the trenches right now."
"These women turned one more negative in a long line of exclusionary nonsense into a funny, light-hearted, defiant reminder that women in science are not going anywhere."

And with "mind blowing" efforts like the response to Discovery's ad it's obvious the amazing women of STEM aren't going to take being forgotten about any more.

More from Trending

Screenshot of Stephen Colbert
CBS

Stephen Colbert Makes Somber Plea To Americans In Wake Of Charlie Kirk's Death

Late-night host Stephen Colbert had a somber message for Americans as he addressed the assassination of far-right activist Charlie Kirk, stressing that "political violence only leads to more political violence."

Kirk died after an unidentified gunman shot him in the neck as he—ironically enough—mocked victims of gun violence at an event in Utah Valley State University. Kirk's murder has galvanized the far-right, with President Donald Trump and his surrogates claiming without evidence that rhetoric from Democrats is responsible for Kirk's death.

Keep ReadingShow less
a woman sunbathing on rocks.
a person sitting on a towel on a beach
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

People Share The Weirdest Flexes They Heard Someone Say With A Straight Face

It is never attractive to gloat.

Even so, some people can't help but brag, or "flex" as it is sometimes known, about certain accomplishments or attributes.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @thedowntheredoc's TikTok video
@thedowntheredoc/TikTok

TikToker Hilariously Calls Out Target After Champion Pants Feature Awkwardly-Placed Front Pleat

Sometimes you can just tell when something was designed *for* women, but was not actually designed *by* women.

Take, for instance, the new pleated pants available at Target from the Champion clothing line. While there's nothing wrong with pleated pants and they certainly have a suitable spot in the workplace, the latest rendition of Champion pleated pants are, shall we say, NSFW.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @kaicutch's Instagram video
@kaicutch/Instagram

Woman Flips Her Car After Belting Out Ironic Britney Spears Lyric In Wild Viral Video

Whether we want to admit it or not, we've all had our fair share of carpool karaoke and maybe even imagined our car as our own personal recording studio.

But TikToker and Instagrammer Kaitlynn McCutcheon may have gotten too into her performance of Britney Spears' classic, "Hit Me Baby, One More Time," when the road and her car both said, "Bet."

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from ​@lynnshazeen's TikTok video
@lynnshazeen/TikTok

Woman Goes Viral After Revealing How Her Obsession With Matcha Landed Her In The Hospital

Let's be honest: Too much of anything isn't good for us. It's all about the balance!

But the media and social media trends have taught us that certain things are really good for us, encouraging us to be like the "very mindful and very demure" girls and take care of ourselves. One such example is drinking more matcha, especially if you really like coffee or think you have a caffeine addiction.

Keep ReadingShow less