Creative Critique through the gender lens: Ad reviews 30 March - 5 April

Asian Paints

The ad captures the myriad ways in which the families are bonding. It is heartening to note that men and women, girls and boys are shown in diverse roles from men engaged in gardening  to women working from home, from men learning cooking to girls playing cricket at home. The whole feel of the film is one of camaraderie, freedom and fun devoid of stereotypes.

 

GS Score 4.5/5

 

Discovery Plus

The ad does great disservice to Discovery as it is neither interesting nor funny. On top of that the ad features no women candidates at all though the main interviewer is a woman, but she doesn’t come across as a competent person.

 

GS Score 2.5/5

 

Ebix Cash

The ad is interesting for two reasons. Firstly, it features two people with disability - an achiever and a young boy who is yet to learn to cope with his disability. It is important to increase the visibility in media of people with disabilities in order to help mainstream them into society. Secondly, it shows the parents taking care of the child together. In a society where a child with disability becomes the responsibility of mother alone, in most cases, it is nice to see parents who are equal partners in bringing up the child.

 

GSScore 3.25/5

 

Tata Sky

Lockdown time could be a time for reinventing oneself. The ad is interesting with men and women engaging in learning various skills - be it hair cutting, hair braiding, cooking, dancing or learning English. The ad depicts characters from different age groups and both sexes. It shows men and women bending the gender norms to learn in a fun way new skills that are not typically associated with their gender

 

GSScore: 4/5

 

Vivo:

 

Women are more in number as the front line health workers and as healthcare providers in our response to Covid-19. It is heartening to note that the ad features more women than men and focuses on keeping them safe. However, the tag line 'Salute the Heroes' brings in images of men alone in our minds, as in common parlance the word hero is associated with man. However, the dictionary meaning is gender neutral and a hero is defined as 'a person who is admired, especially for having done something difficult or good' and our healthcare professionals, particularly our women, are the real Covid-19 heroes.

 

GS Score: 4.5/5