Feminism som handelsvara : En semiorisk analys av Estrids kommunikation på sociala medier

Sammanfattning: Each day we’re exposed to advertisement with various commercial messages. It therefore becomes important for companies to stand out from the crowd in order to catch consumers’ attention. In line with the success of feminism, many companies have chosen to engage in the issue of equality and women’s rights. The aim of this study has been to investigate how feminism as a brand strategy is expressed and used. The razor company Estrid has been studied to exemplify how semiotic resources on social media can be used to produce feminist signs as well as how they can be used as a tool for the company’s brand. Gender and feminist theories have been used to answer the study’s purpose. Stereotypes and concepts such as Pinkwashing, Corporate Social Responsibility and Femvertising have also been used as a support in the analysis. The method, semiotic analysis, helped us to analyse Estrid’s Instagram posts and YouTube clips to find out what symbols, characters and expressions of stereotype- breaking material and feminism there are. The result that emerged from the analysis showed that Estrid communicated against stereotypes and used feminism as a brand strategy by expressing feminist values. The results also showed that it’s difficult for companies to appear as genuinely feministic because of the commercial interest and that it requires more than just communicating against stereotypes.