Creative critique from a gender lens: 17-21 May

Dr AL Sharada, director, Population First, reviews a selection of ads from last week

May 25, 2021 05:08:00 PM | Article | Dr AL Sharada Share - Share to Facebook

 
A hilarious advertisement; I am sure it would resonate with many women. While it is good to note that women are looking at a site selling cars,  it is so stereotypical that their focus is on finding good husbands and not on buying a car for themselves.
 
Gender Sensitivity Score (GSS): 2.5/5
 
 
 
A typical ad promoting a sanitary napkin brand. As long as we hesitate to show red ink to indicate bleeding in advertisements for fear of offending viewers’ sensitivities, we cannot break the stigma attached to menstruation. Women bleed during menstruation; they bleed blood and blood is red. By using blue ink, we are once again saying that we should be ashamed of our bleeding and hide it.
 
GSS: 2/5
 

This is a much-needed message in these difficult times – ask for support, give support and get support. We, indeed, need to reach out to others and do our bit to support people in need, particularly the elderly. The ad also does well by portraying people from diverse communities.
 
GSS: 3/5
 

The ad is for a service that provides logistic support to MSMEs, and yet, we do not find a single woman in the ad. Data shows that women own 20% of the MSMEs. Then why are they missing from our communication? How strong is our commitment to inclusion and diversity, really?
 
GSS: 2.5/5

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