One of my favorite ad campaigns over the years has been the #LikeAGirl campaign for the menstrual product brand, Always. When the first ad was launched in 2014, I remember I teared up watching it, being a middle-school girl at the time. This ad campaign was launched as “a new leg of its epic battle to make sure that girls everywhere keep their confidence through puberty and beyond by tackling the societal limitations that stand in their way” (Always). Unlike ads that promote negative stereotypes, hyper-sexualize individuals to sell products, and inform consumers that they are doing something inherently wrong, I love this ad because it instead reinforces that young women and girls deserve to be confident, even during a hard transition such as puberty. This ad has been widely celebrated for breaking down gender stereotypes and for empowering women and girls; while advertising for a brand, Always, the company has focused on a larger societal issue to encourage people that there should be no stigma in being a girl, and in that case, no stigma while purchasing menstrual products. When connecting this ad to the Teays reading, the first thing that comes to my mind is the diversity of the ad– for once, it actually does represent the society we live in. There are people in the ad across genders, ages, races, and ethnicities featured in this advertisement. This is important, especially in a world where white, thin, heterosexual, and conventionally “attractive” women are emphasized as the norm so that consumers of the ad are able to connect to it.
I also think it is worth noting that none of the interviewees in this ad mention their use of Always menstrual products or is attempting to promote a product in any type of way. The ad utilizes the stories and opinions of the interviewees through a message of female empowerment, with the name of the company mentioned as a supplement. In a way, this made me want to support Always more than a company with an ad promoting traditional gender stereotypes or making women seem weak during their menstrual cycles. Always did exactly the opposite of this and encouraged young women and girls to support their company as a result of their positive, progressive programming.
Here is the ad:
This is one of my favorites also. Though i tend to prefer funny, lighthearted commercials, this ad really stood out to me because of what it was sharing. It was showing that girls are taught these things that are expected of us. The run like a girl, throw like a girl stuff. That is not something that we are born thinking, it is a societal norm that we are pressured to conform to. I really like seeing the clips of the young girls who do their best even when theyre told to ‘do it like a girl’. It makes me hopeful that maybe there is hope that young girls will no longer feel as if they have to be ditzy and bad at sports in order to be a real girl.