A slew of new viral ads celebrate girls and get creative about sending important messages.
Call it the tampon that launched a thousand ads, but it seems like since HelloFlo’s period party took over the internet in June, more and more ads that are genuinely worth watching have gone viral.
#LikeAGirl
We’ve all heard the taunt, “You throw like a girl,” and we all understand it to mean we’re bad at throwing things. Always (are periods having a moment?) recently released this ad along with the #LikeAGirl campaign to much applause.
The most effective part about this ad is seeing older girls and boys acting out commands to run and throw “like a girl” in stark contrast to the young girls acting out the same movements. These are girls that society has yet to suck the life out of. It’s refreshing to see them and easy to forget that we were all that self-confident back in the day.
Yes, it’s an ad for environmentally crappy feminine hygiene products—and let’s not forget the message inherent to many period-related items: We smell bad and need to cover up that lady stench with scented pink products.
But with the world seemingly out to destroy women at every turn this week, I’ll put this one in the win column.
Toy Story: The Vibrator Ad
Personally, I love this PSA about gun control. Check it out:
Great, right? Yes, but as Keli Goff writes in The Daily Beast, of course I love it. She makes a great point that this appeals to those of us who probably already support gun control—as it turns out, most right wing conservatives don’t think vibrators are funny. Who knew?
Regardless, I still like this one and I do think it makes an important point in a unique an interesting way.
Inspire Her Mind: Girls in STEM
The winning girl-power ad of the year so far? “Inspire Her Mind” from Sheryl Sandberg and the Makers team along with Verizon.
Say what you will about the polarizing work of Makers—and I have said some stuff myself— but this ad brilliantly combines statistics, powerful imagery, messages to parents and hits all of the right notes.
That Happened is Libby Lowe’s weekly column for EcoSalon analyzing media, news and pop culture through a feminist lens. Keep in touch with Libby @LibbyLowe.
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