You may have seen this past week that Discovery relaunched its global brand.
The promo for the rebrand, rolled out across social media and TV spots, features a medley of Discovery scenes, stars, and bad-ass nature shots, set to the Blue Swede song Hooked on a Feeling.
While the promo is pretty catchy, one feature has understandably struck people as bizarre. The promo essentially contains no prominently featured women, nor a great deal of diversity in general.
It culminates with Discovery's new tagline "The world is ours", turning the whole thing into a misogynistic slap in the face, with an aftertaste of Axe body spray. Not to even get started on the blatant anthropocentrism, parading our dominance over nature at a time when humans more than any other species ever have caused irreparable damage to the environment.
#TheWorldIsOurs pic.twitter.com/2UVFOkQnkd
— Discovery (@Discovery) March 27, 2019
The full version of the campaign promo does contain a couple (literally, a couple) women, but overall the whole thing is a meaty shot of testosterone.
It's hard to watch it and not get the message that if you don't identify as a man - particularly the type of man who likes fishing and blowing things up - there's no place for you in the TV world of science, adventure, or exploration.
Heyyyy! Thanks for reminding us! Do you think the rest of us can still live here though?
— Damini ⚡️ (@itisidamini) April 2, 2019
As a woman who is a science and factual TV presenter, one of my big dreams is to present something on Discovery but when I see promos like this without women and the message is "the world is ours", I wonder if my dream is even possible...https://t.co/pZTFhUXTcf
— Lee Constable 🔥 (@Constababble) April 2, 2019
This is despite the fact that one 2018 advertiser sheet showed that many of Discovery's channels have a predominantly female viewership.
Of course, the internet was quick to jump on the issue - and Discovery, notably, still have not responded to the backlash.
hey Discovery remember me? A woman who worked for you? Just letting you know women like science and exploring and learning too.
— Julia Wilde (@Julia_SCI) April 2, 2019
8 million people follow this account but the only validation we care about is from D U D E S coolcool
— Emily Graslie 📺🦕🦖 (@Ehmee) April 2, 2019
But there is good news here! Inspired by the Discovery rebrand, a group of incredible female researchers have put together their own catchy promo, and we can't stop watching.
You can follow the incredible women involved here:
Katie O’Reilly @DrKatfish
— Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D (@SarahMackAttack) April 4, 2019
Alie Ward @alieward
Earyn McGee @Afro_Herper
Corina Newsome @hood_naturalist
Kaeli Swift @corvidresearch
Ashley Hall @LadyNaturalist
Ashley Gary @TheWildlifeHost
Taylor West @WildWildTWest
Lee Constable @Constababble
Imogene C @biologistimo
Jess Phoenix @jessphoenix2018
— Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D (@SarahMackAttack) April 4, 2019
Emily Williams @wayfaringwilly
Roxy Chicalo @rchicalo
Laural Mundy @laurelmundyillo
Thank you all for kicking so much ass in making this video with me 🥰
Importantly, they flag that their beautifully crafted video definitely isn't a full representation of everyone in science - because #scienceisforeveryone.
Let's share it wide and hope it inspires a whole new generation of scientists and explorers from all backgrounds.