When I thought about an ad that stood out to me, I immediately thought of the “Like a Girl” campaign by Always that was released in 2014. In the commercial, they start by asking teenagers what it means to “run like a girl”. All of them responded by running in the stereotypical way girls are perceived to run (flailing, not trying, worrying about their hair). They also ask how to throw like a girl, and fight like a girl – all of which elicited the same responses. However, when they asked younger girls (about age 10) the same questions, they had a very different reaction. One girl said that running like a girl meant running “as fast as you can”. The ad finishes with the statement that a girl’s confidence drops significantly during puberty, and that we should make “like a girl” mean better things.

I think this ad sticks out because it challenges a preconceived notion that we may not always notice, but that dramatically affects the way that women perceive themselves and perform on a day-to-day basis. It brings up something in our society that has become ingrained in our communities and should be changed. Especially after doing the readings for this week, the campaign definitely runs off of optimism, and pushes the idea that this problem can be solved if we change our mindset. It also tells a story to the audience, and shows us first-hand the devastating consequences that these stereotypes can have on young girls’ confidence levels. I also think that this ad is unique and stands out because of the visual aspects. The participants are asked on the spot to do these things, so it feels authentic and not planned out beforehand. I think that genuine feel to the ad gives it more power as well – if people think it’s just acting, they may be less inclined to listen to the message.