Blog Post 8 (Week 9) - Zarif

We see thousands of ads per day, and whether we like it or not, they shape our perceptions of society and each other. Many ads perpetuate societal norms, so when a commercial directly confronts stereotypes, we stand up and take notice. Some of the more than seven million people who saw The Pantene’s ad understand stereotype threat, and many learned something about sexism along the way. This ad features gorgeous, thin models with shining hair in go-getter jobs. 

It also overlays the different ways women are viewed compared to their male counterparts. In one minute, the Pantene #WhipIt commercial took negative stereotypes of women leaders and flipped those ideas on their head. Our readers know that negative labels aimed at women leaders are nothing new. What is new is a commercial that directly addresses and challenges these labels. We have to praise this Pantene ad for bringing feminist issues to a wider audience and rejecting the old, lazy, sexist advertising tropes many companies still use.

The Pantene ad shows high-powered women and men in parallel situations with the women receiving deprecating labels, while the men receive praise. The man giving a passionate speech is marked as “persuasive,” while the woman speaker is “pushy.” The man in the office addressing a colleague is the “boss.” The woman in the same office, same position, is “bossy.” According to Jean Kilbourne's film, "Killing us Softly 4", I found that the ego and the respect that was attached to men differs greatly compared to woman, even though the Ad shows the contribution or acts of both parties which stands very similarly. And even when a woman leader has confidence, she still needs her colleagues and bosses to recognize that they too need to reject sexist labeling and stereotypes. 

The connection between gender equality and shampoo is tenuous at best. We’ve come a long way from the days of hair commercials promising impossibly shiny hair with just one wash. Now, opportunities are ripe for companies to put out thought-provoking messaging that isn’t afraid to challenge societal norms. Nevertheless, Pantene Philippines still tried their best to attract attention of both worlds by playing it safe. The fact that they still hired good-looking models and actors in this ad implicitly opened our eyes subconsciously - attentive to the human traits of liking something or someone beautiful. This Ad really goes directly proportional to the argument that Kilborne mentions in "Killing Us Softly 4" that "beauty" had became the primary marketing strategy in todays world. Seeming to astray from the major point of this Ad, Pantene, in a way tells the female audience that beauty does equals to success.

However, in this Ad, women will continue breaking through the glass ceiling, but sexism isn’t over, and real barriers to equality in leadership for women in the workplace and politics still exist. Originally, the ad aired only in the Philippines but went viral online and even garnered praise from Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook and author of Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. She even elaborates on her opinion in one of her tweets about this video : “This is one of the most powerful videos I have ever seen illustrating how when women and men do the same things, they are seen in completely different ways. Really worth watching. Lean In prize of the day for sure!”