#Laadli @Goafest 2014: A message from Dr AL Sharada

As the most effective communicators, you are not just creating demand and desire for new products and services, you are also projecting new lifestyles and aspirations. You use gender stereotypes to sell your products and ideas and you also break them to create new images of equality, empowerment and inclusiveness. Laadli celebrates every such attempt and is convinced that advertising can do its bit changing the mindsets that under value women, promote gender-based violence and justify inequalities. It is just a question of where you wish to place the focus - on the reality driven by stereotypes or the emerging reality where young men and women want a different social order with equal opportunities, freedom and justice.

 

The fact that the organisers of Goafest considered  Laadli worth giving space to in this festival of creativity, intellectual stimulation and fun shows how committed the advertising fraternity is to the idea of gender sensitivity in communication. We are grateful to all of you.

 

We invite you to take time to visit our stall, number 11 on the pathway to the lawn. We have put together for you a number of challenging creative tasks that could win you  some cash prizes or  heavy discounts on our T- shirts. You can also make your own funky T-shirts to gift your Laadli.

 

Show that you care for a better world by tweeting with #Laadli on the best gender sensitive ad you have seen. We will have a lucky draw of the tweets for a cash prize of Rs 3000.

 

Looking forward to engage with you creatively.

 

Warm regards,

Sharada AL, programme director, Population First