Creative critique from a gender lens: 22-26 February

Center Fruit

A fun ad that focuses on inter-generational differences in the approach to work. The restlessness and need for speed of the younger generation are captured well.

 

GS Score: 3/5

 

Ikea

The ad sends out a very important message in an interesting way: change starts at home. The increased responsibility of childcare is quite burdensome for new mothers. Men should naturally share these responsibilities, out of choice. As we say in our training programmes, except breast-feeding, everything else can be done by men. What is interesting is that the ad doesn’t just show the man preparing to take care of the newborn, but also preparing his son for the new arrival in the family. Congratulations to the team for a film that perfectly fits the brand identity with a very relevant social message.

 

GS Score: 4.75/5

 

Tata Power

 

The ad reinforces many stereotypes:

 

1. That men decide to go for solar power

 

2. The benefits of the investment accrue to them

 

3. They are the ones who decide how the savings should be used

 

Realistically, with savings of Rs. 50,000 a year, can we really afford a gold necklace, bike and education in a Singaporean university? However, the plus point of the ad is it shows the father keen on sending his daughter to the best educational institute.

 

GS Score: 3.25/5

 

aLL

The aLL brand acknowledges the right of plus-sized people to wear trendy and fashionable clothes. The current ad goes a step further and beseeches men and women to be their own size.

 

The ad shows defiance, confidence and self-assertion of plus-sized people. Being fat is often seen as being stupid and incompetent, and this perception is reflected in many ads. The media by and large sticks to the norm of a good-looking woman, whatever may be her age, except when it portrays women from lower castes or classes. It’s time we bring in greater diversity of body shapes in our communication and stop body-shaming large men/boys and women/girls. This is particularly important to help younger women to ger their confidence and self-esteem up.

 

GS Score: 4/5

 

Dove

Girls and women are constantly under the scanner to see how they fare in terms of the ideal beauty standards. Their hight, weight, complexion, hair and everything is keenly observed and commented upon, denting their self-image, self-esteem and confidence. By exposing the obnoxious tendency in us, the ad makes the audience feel ashamed of such behaviour. If it can help even a small percentage of viewers stop themselves from behaving in such a manner, it would be changing the way we define beauty in women.

 

GS Score: 4.5/5

 

Tata Sky

Although we see quite a few shots with women and girls, the ad predominantly portrays men watching in diverse contexts. Women are shown as secondary characters mostly in the background with the focus being on the men. Is it because of the presumption that if get the men’s buy-in women are automatically in?

 

GS Score 2.5/5