It has become de rigeur for brands to put out some strong positive messaging around women’s empowerment in the first week of March, and this year too there is the usual outpouring. A couple of companies have tried interesting social experiments to break through the clutter.
Jewellery retail brand Tanishq, which was one of the early players to spark meaningful conversations around women’s aspirations, has launched ‘Her Choice’ — a film that challenges conventional notions of empowerment. At a time when phrases like ‘independent’, ‘strong’ are becoming clichéd, trust Tanishq to invert the expectations of a woman! Conceptualised by Autumn Grey, the film opens with shots of a woman dressing with intent. It looks as though she is getting ready for work. Yet, in a twist, it is her husband who steps out for work, while she stays behind, embracing the role of a homemaker. The campaign shifts the perspective on empowerment, honouring individuality and her right to choose.
Park the bias
Ahead of Women’s Day, CARS24 launched a social experiment to check trust levels when women handle cars. At a busy parking area, two valet attendants — a man and a woman — were assigned the job of parking vehicles. Shockingly, 97 per cent of car owners chose the male valet. When the researchers tried to shake things up by assigning a lazy, inattentive male valet or a bent, elderly male, the car owners still preferred to hand over the keys to the male valet. The film powerfully exposes the bias against women drivers.
Role models
Shemaroo Entertainment’s women’s day campaign, #HarRoleIsHerRole, exposes the preconceived notions we have about job profiles. In a social experiment, it invited 10 artists and asked them to paint portraits of professionals — a chef, cricketer, scientist, army officer, wrestler, tailor, doctor, pilot, and firefighter. The result? Every artist unconsciously painted only men, revealing how gender biases are deeply rooted in our minds. Deciding that action is needed to change this, Shemaroo is distributing new occupation charts across schools and NGOs, which feature women as soldiers, pilots, engineers, et al.
She for she
Godrej Industries Group IWD campaign focuses on shared experiences across generations, identities, and professions. It features women exchanging letters, sharing their challenges, experiences, and achievements while recognising each other’s journeys. Beautifully filmed, the deeply poetic lines are a call to see, hear, and champion each other.
Journey of dreams
Adani Group’s narrative-driven film, created by Ogilvy India, which shows how its port helps small business owners dream big, is heartwarming. The film opens with a man and his daughter watching a ship sail into the horizon, with the daughter asking her dad, “Ships carry big things, right?” The father responds, “Ships also transport big dreams.” As the plot unfolds we see how the father, a craftsman, gets a big order from international shores for his handcrafted Namda toys, a traditional wool-felting craft product from the Kutch region of Gujarat.
Fashionable self-expression
Myntra’s Women’s Day campaign ‘Fashion ki Adalat’ is lighthearted, while packing a powerful message woven around self-expression through fashion. The ad featuring actor Archana Puran Singh as a sassy judge in a face-off with digital creators Sakshi Sindwani, Ruhee Dosani and Meghna Kaur, humorously highlights the unfair scrutiny women face for their fashion and beauty choices.
Every day, women face unsolicited judgements on what they wear — too bold, too plain, too much, too little. Society’s expectations often dictate how they dress. Myntra’s ad film, executed as a courtroom spoof, shows each influencer facing trial for a ‘fashion crime’ — from flaunting curves to bold make-up, and wearing oversized gender-neutral clothes. After hearing their rebuttals, the judge delivers her verdict. “Tumhe kya pehnna hai, yeh sirf TUM decide karogi!” (You will decide what you wear).
