Will Female Empowerment Advertising Continue?

Many companies have created advertisements that are meant to empower women from all age groups. Just recently, the Like A Girl video, which not only trended on YouTube in 2014 but also gained roughly 54 million views so far, has added to a growing debate on gender. In the ad, men and women both young and old are asked what it means to run, throw, and fight like a girl.

(Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjJQBjWYDTs )

Ericka Souter, when asked if the ad could change the message to girls, commented on the advertisement on Good Morning America saying, “It absolutely can. This is a really powerful message because it treads on our biggest fears as parents. We want to make sure that our girls have a positive self image and that’s kind of hard to do at times because they fall into this thing that they should be sugar and spice and everything nice and they are not supposed to be tough but they can be strong and this kind of ad campaign can change that image” (“'Like a Girl’ Viral Video,” 2014).

(Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkTh_r66lDA )

The Like A Girl ad is not the only advertisement that has sought to show female empowerment. Companies like Verizon, Dove, Pantene, among others including the recent ad from Under Armour, have continued this trend on female empowerment (Winter, 2014, para. 4). The reason companies continue creating these types of ads is because they work. The ads are not only creating connections among women, they are going viral, and gaining media coverage, which has spread them even more. Nan McCann, co-founder of M2W, says that “a female empowerment story will take off because the trend has gone mainstream. Many brands, of course, can see the value of hitching their wagons to that star” (Winter, 2014, para. 3). While some people say the videos are “gimmicky or condescending” the Like A Girl ad is “...on track to break P&G’s social media records” (Winter, 2014, para. 6). Ads that promote female empowerment work and their presence will stay as long as they continue to keep the honesty, and powerful message that previous ads have created (Winter, 2014, para. 6).

One of the interesting things that I have personally noticed lately are posts created by men saying that they do not understand why women need a movement for empowerment and they wish the videos would stop as they are unnecessary. These comments are the precise reason I hope these ads do continue if not to help women in present times, than to represent all the women from the past centuries who did not feel they could act the way they wanted to, who did not have a voice, or who were left in the shadows because they were “women”.  

ABC News. (2014, July 1). ‘Like a Girl’ Viral Video Strikes a Chord With Young Women. YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkTh_r66lDA

Winter, C. (2014, July 10). Do Advertising’s Viral Video Pitches to Women Have Staying Power? Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-07-10/drugstore-brands-woo-female-shoppers-with-viral-videos