Last night after the half-time show, I knew the first ad we saw was going to be a very powerful one. And, man, was I right!
It was the “Like a Girl” ad by Always. I hope you had a chance to see it, but if you haven’t…
I loved how the producer or whomever was asking the question “What does it look like throw like a girl? Run like a girl? And you had one set of answers from older girls and boys depicting girls as clumsy, weak and awkward. And then they asked young girls the same questions. Answers were outstanding. Awkwardness was replaced with confidence, weakness replaced with strength. It was fascinating and very eye-opening.
The tagline or message at the end explains how a girl’s confidence plummets during puberty. Amen to that…that’s when our best selves gets shelved and most of us began our journey into poor self-esteem, body shame, judgment of self and others. And our society encourages this.
A couple of things happened after I saw this ad that got me to thinking. If you follow me on Facebook, you know that I immediately posted this ad to my page. I had to share it with my friends right away because it really struck a nerve with me.
A good friend posted that the ad was good, but she thought the PSA for domestic violence was more powerful. I agree they are both brilliant and have struck a nerve with many of us, but, I had already seen that commercial a few days prior so it didn’t “hit” me as hard as seeing the Like a Girl ad for the first time. I know I was truly impacted when I saw the PSA, but what I realized by my friend’s, who has a high position at New York’s Office of Children and Family Services, reaction is that she encounters domestic violence every day so, of course, this important PSA was most impactful for her.
And then, there’s the two car commercials both tugging at our emotions — Dad driving daughter to the airport as she leaves for service or the dad is away too often and misses much of his son’s important youth.
This year’s ads were very different — very heart felt with very poignant messages.
So one important thing I learned outside the ads is that what we hold close to us and in our hearts causes us to become passionate about helping others who have been involved in all too important, very often, serious challenges that no one should ever have to endure.
I work with women…and men…whose weight, overeating, binge eating, poor body image struggles begin right in the middle of the good old thing called puberty so, like my friend who works with domestic violence, my most powerful ad choice reflects what is important to me and my clients.
And like my friend, I want to be the solution to these struggles.
The other thing I learned is…one of the women from the morning show “The View” is an ass. She was a guest host and I’m sorry I don’t know who she is or what her name is…I only know she’s an ass. During the “hot topics” section this morning they, of course, were talking about which ads they liked the most. One of ladies brought up the “Like a Girl” ad. Three out of four women all agreed that the ad supported the stereotype that girls who threw or ran like a girl were weak and clumsy and then the ass says the ad didn’t mean much to her…since it was an ad for Always, it only reminded her how lousy she felt for two days a month…Really, that’s what you got from the ad…Ass.
So whichever ad you liked the best, I just pray you hold what’s important to you in your heart and become part of the solution to any cause you believe in.
As always (pardon the pun), remember it’s about time we return to the heart.
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