Creative critique from a gender lens: 25-29 July

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

Aug 05, 2022 01:53:00 AM | Article | Dr AL Sharada

What worked:

A well-made advertisement showing the aspirations of a young girl, and the support she receives from her mother for her education and career. It is refreshing to see a mother involved in the financial aspects of her child's education and thereby presents a more authentic portrayal of today's women.

Gender Sensitivity Score (GSS): 4/5

IDP Education

The ad portrays a father who supports the choices his daughter makes in her life. The girl is shown as exercising choice and agency to fulfil her dreams. A positive ad that portrays an empowered young woman.

GSS: 4/5

What could have worked:

Thums Up

The ad portrays men and women who have achieved success against odds despite the negativity that they faced which is based on social prejudices and biases. Yet, keeping up with the brand image of thumps-up, the ad visually and in its tone conveys aggressive machoism.

GSS: 2.5/5

Tata Pravesh

There is dissonance between the script of the voice-over and the body language of the protagonist. The persona of a confident and ambitious trans-women portrayed in words is not reflected in the woman who looks diffident, unsure of herself and vulnerable, thus giving the credit for her success to the man and the organisation.

GSS: 3.21/5

What did not work:

AcneStar

The usual run-of-the-mill advertisement that shows stress as one of the causes for acne among women. It continues to reinforce that having acne and pimples causes a major disruption in the lives of women and girls. Boys are invisible in these ads. How refreshing it would be to see a girl reaching out to her elder brother for a remedy for acne. It would normalise the fact that men too have acne and that it is a part of growing up.

GSS: 2.25/5

Other films from the week:

Freecharge