The use of feminist messages in marketing is not a new phenomenon. However, there has been an increase in using this as a strategy in later years. Estrid is a Swedish company that sells a razor subscription service with an entire marketing strategy based on using feminist messages. This contradictory paradox motivated this thesis' subject and aim: to examine how young women interpret feminist messages in parts of Estrid's communication, and to critically discuss the use of a feminist strategy in communication from a company that sells razors to women from the perspective of commodity feminism according to Rosalind Gill. The research questions are thereby: 1) Can Rosalind Gill's aspects of commodity feminism be identified in parts of Estrid's communication? If so, how?; 2) How does young women interpret the feminist messages in parts of Estrid's communication?To answer the purpose statement, a semiotic analysis was conducted with pictures derived from Estrid's website. Two focus groups with women in the ages 20–25 was held to get the perspective from a potential target group. The material was then analyzed through the lens of commodity feminism. Through this analysis we could identify the use of multiple of Rosalind Gill's aspects of commodity feminism through different semiotic connotations in the material, as well as in the commentary from the focus groups. Further, the study demonstrated a feeling of internal ambivalence amongst the focus group participants. On the one hand, everyone showed a positive attitude towards Estrid including diverse models and body hair in their advertisements. On the other hand, they were all skeptical towards the genuinity of the feminist messages included in the same material. What inspired this thesis was therefore present in all stages throughout it: the paradox of selling razors using feminist messages.

I denna studie undersöks rakhyvelsföretaget Estrids marknadskommunikation och hur de laddar sitt varumärke med feministiska värderingar. Studien ämnar besvara hur Estrid framställs som feministiska och vilken presupponerad kvinna kommunikationen riktar sig mot. Studien syftar till att kritiskt belysa hur etisk marknadskommunikation tar sig i uttryck med multimodala medel på den svenska marknaden, och tar avstamp i sociosemiotiken där en skrift-, bild- och reklamfilmsanalys görs med utgångspunkt i den systemisk funktionella grammatiken och multimodalitet. Resultatet visar att Estrids feministiska värderingar framträder genom att de skapar personan Estrid, vilken ses som handlingskraftig och självsäker, och som stöttar kvinnan i ett svårnavigerat och polariserat politiskt klimat. Kvinnan framställs som förhållandevis passiv och osäker, men legitimeras som feminist genom att köpa rakhyveln och synas med den. Kommunikationen går i linje med en kommodiferad aktivism och marknadsfeminism där konsumenter görs till politiska aktivister och som genom konsumtion skaffar sig bättre värderingar och blir en bättre människa. Studien visar även att ökat kvinnligt självförtroende är ett viktigt element i marknadskommunikationen, vilket vidare kan härledas till postfeminismen.

This essay aims to establish a marxist perspective upon a phenomena that could be seen as typical neoliberal–femvertising. I have noticed an expanding trend in fashion; the use of feminism as branding. Fashion brands such as Dior and H&M have lately profiled themselves with feminism, framing it as radical as well as feminist. Meanwhile, the theory of reification by Georg Lukács claims that capitalism fools us to believe that we may acccomplish human aims and characteristics through commodities. I will investigate if it is possible to look upon this phenomena as an example of reification? The attempt brings the capitalistic dimension of femvertising into daylight and questions it´s feminist pretense.