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A computer‐based programme, Beating the Blues, has been approved for use in the NHS for treating people with mild to moderate depression. It has been welcomed as an important addition to the range of treatment options available. However, some people have expressed reservations about whether this method of delivery would be appropriate for everyone. This article describes the Volunteer‐aided Computerised Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (cCBT) Project, an innovative way to make Beating the Blues more accessible to individuals. This project is being developed by Making Space, in partnership with other public and third sector organisations, and is funded by the Department of Health.

This paper examines the implications for bank regulatory and monetary policy of the business cycle; the nature of which is being transformed by the forces of globalisation and the communication and information technology revolution. Asset price fluctuations and overinvestment appear to have become more common, and ‘cheap money’ has been a causal factor. More risk‐related ‘Basel’ bank capital adequacy requirements, combined with more rigorous bad loan provisioning policies and ‘marking to market’ will result in bank regulation amplifying cycles. Hence, monetary policy must be closely coordinated with bank regulation policy to attenuate the cycle and the impact of asset price fluctuations.

Although women have been represented in advertising since WWII, the themes were laden with stereotypes – from working roles in the 1940s to superwomen in the 1970 and 1980s, second-wave feminism. Contemporary women-centric advertising (or femvertising) strives towards women empowerment and gender equality by stripping down stereotypes. However, through closer inspection, this study examines if this femvertising by brands nowadays is a gimmick to sell their products and further the neoliberal, postfeminist perspective.

Semiotic content analysis (SCA) explored the post-feminist discourses, as categorised by Windels et al. (2020) – in the internationally awarded 80 advertisements produced from 2013 to 2023 in the global West and South. Codes generated from SCA were then quantitatively analysed using chi-square and p-values, comparing the three themes: post-feminist elements and discourses, the form of self-surveillance and product ads and measuring the changes in post-feminist discourses in recent years.

After 2018, advertisements used more post-feminist discourse, especially commodity feminism, self-surveillance and love-your-body parameters. Brands reacted in their campaigns, conforming to gender stereotypes under empowerment and modifying feminist values.

The study lacked a phenomenological understanding of the perspective of the consumers, the advertisers and the panel judges of these awards through a qualitative study on the post-feminist aspects of the femvertisements, the importance of depoliticising the women’s struggle or the feminist movement in communicating with the audience and how such a strategy has helped in empowering (or disempowering) real women.

The study highlights the need for inclusive marketing communication and also outlines implications for the brand owners, advertisers and the creative team. The research emphasises determining the fit between brands and the social issue, eventually leading to positive brand attitude and purchase intention among consumers.

The research helps inform the young consumers about gender equity, the role played by the social, cultural, political, environmental and structural elements in shaping women’s empowerment and how their identity and experiences affect their empowerment. An inclusive communication approach would enable projects with real people with whom consumers, irrespective of gender, can resonate.

The study highlighted the femvertising issue from an inclusive marketing communication spectrum, implying its importance for brands’ attempts to connect with feminist and women consumers authentically.