Always #LikeAGirl!
The brand Always succeeded in putting forward a great message through their ‘Like A Girl’ campaign. They aimed at turning this phrase that had become an insult into an empowering message. This campaign was known for breaking stereotypes and empowering women.
Launched in 2014, the brand created a three minute video that features men and women who are ask to do things ‘like a girl’. In this ad viewers see that ‘Like a girl’ is usually taken as an insult. When asked to run, fight or throw like a girl, men and women flail their arms around and act in a silly way.
But as the video proceeds, when little girls are asked to run, fight and throw like a girl, their reactions are distinctively different. Also, a little girl is asked what it means to run like a girl and she responds that it means “to run as fast as you can” prompting Always to ask: Why doing something like a girl is an insult?
The creative team of Always wanted to redefine this phrase from an insult into an empowering compliment. They also spread the message through their hashtag #LikeAGirl and wanted to show to people that this phrase not only isn’t an insult but it can mean great things. They also encouraged everyone to participate and show what it means for them to do something like a girl.
The campaign received a lot of positive feedback as it is showing that girls DO have the power and doing something “Like a girl” shouldn’t be underestimating someone but encouraging him or her to do their best. But this wasn’t until 2015 Superbowl shortened version of the ad, that almost 115 million people watched, that both positive and negative reactions were presented to the Internet, and specifically Twitter, through the hashtags #LikeAGirl and #LikeABoy.
With #LikeAGirl women described what they did “like a girl” and how this does not stop them for being strong and successful. These tweets can give a taste of what doing something like a girl seems like:
With #LikeABoy self-proclaimed “meninists” stated that “Always shows an unfair treatment as its advertisement only refers to women and does not show gender equality’’. But If someone ever wondered why empowering women through advertisements happens is mostly because women are often oppressed and need to be empowered by someone else.
The use of such phrase as an insult shows that sexism is part of our everyday lives and that gender equality has more way to go in order to be achieved. This campaign somehow shows us that further attention should be given on the matter and it also gives us a positive feeling about the fierceness and the capability of younger females to stand up for themselves in the future!
So, to sum it up :
Our team: Starketers consisted by Sofia Anastasiou, Nektaria Ignatiou, Marianna Kantli Marianna Brousti, Martha Tselemegkou.
