'Like A Girl' Super Bowl Ad Champions Female Empowerment On Football's Biggest Stage

[sheshe2]

A viral cry for empowerment is about to ring out during the Super Bowl.

Feminine hygiene brand Always' "[link:http://|Like A Girl]" campaign began as a social experiment to destroy the negative connotation of the phrase "like a girl." It launched in June, drawing millions to a video that showed adult women and males reacting meekly when asked to run, throw or fight "like a girl." But young girls, not conditioned to the dismissive "like a girl" label, demonstrated with athletic vigor.

A study done for the campaign indicated that girls' confidence drops around puberty, which may account for how different age groups responded to "like a girl."

Now a pared-down version of the footage is set to air during the big game on Sunday. Always believes it is the first time a feminine care brand has advertised during the Super Bowl, a rep told The Huffington Post.

"When people watch the video, we know it changes their perception of the phrase ‘like a girl’ – and it makes a difference for girls’ confidence,” Fama Francisco, vice president of Global Always said in a statement. “We feel so strongly about this, that we’re now taking this message to a bigger stage, the Super Bowl, so even more people can join us to champion girls’ confidence and change the meaning of ‘like a girl’ from an insult into something positive and amazing.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/03/why-like-a-girl-is-so-important_n_6598970.html?ir=Impact&ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000054

[flvegan]

1. Thanks for posting.

This was one of only two or three ads I actually liked, and the only one I still talk about.

[rhett o rick]

2. k&r. Thanks for posting. nm

[LeftyMom]

3. I'm really uncomfortable with the empowerment of girls being hijacked by Procter and Gamble.

Maybe that's just me.

[Major Hogwash]

4. I think that we need more ads like this for female empowerment on tv more regularly.

Ad campaigns like this are powerful and should not be easily dismissed.
There is quite a history of social change occurring through tv advertisements like this one.

[sheshe2]

5. We do need this!

The young boy that made it look like it was a flubbed ball by a girl. THEN SAID IT WAS NOT ABOUT HIS SISTER, it is about girls. Hello young one. Get a clue, your sister is a girl and you damn well insulted her.

My wee ones know better Major. He needs to learn before it is to late.

[Major Hogwash]

7. I remember a time when boys who mistreated girls were shunned by their peers.

Last edited Fri Feb 6, 2015, 05:07 AM - Edit history (1)

Sadly, the internet has become a tool for derision to some boys; a festering pocket of smartasses making rude comments to girls on Facebook, Twitter, or message boards.
The modern social media needs to react properly, and teach boys while they are yet still young.
There is no sense in waiting until they are a certain age before teaching them right from wrong.

I know a family who moved here from Holland and their son is one of the most polite young men I have ever met.
He treats his younger sister as an equal, and I told his parents that they certainly did something right in order for him to behave like that.
His father looked at me and he simply said, "We taught him right from wrong" and he was puzzled why I was so impressed with his son's behavior.

It's because I see so many other young men teasing girls, or making fun of them for sport.
It isn't amusing to me one bit at all.

[sheshe2]

8. My wee ones.

The great niece and 3 nephews are awesome with their respect. The little boys love and respect the women in their life.

"We taught him right from wrong" and he was puzzled why I was so impressed with his son's behavior. It's because I see so many other young men teasing girls, or making fun of them for sport. It isn't amusing to me one bit at all.

Thanks Major, so true.

[Egnever]

6. Sadly This ad fails for me.

I want to buy into it, I want it to be effective but it just isn't.

They have me in the beginning but then they ask the girls to do it and they almost exactly mimic the portrayals in the beginning.I think it would have been better to show actual women athletes excelling in running and throwing after the portrayals.

I don't like the connotations of "throwing like a girl" but that doesn't take away from the reality that girls do throw differently.

It may be a borderline-offensive schoolyard taunt, but "throws like a girl" has an element of truth. Studies suggest that girls often don't throw as well as boys. (Boys v. girls is a little diminutive, but it's an important distinction; we'll get to that.) In fact, the "throwing gap," as it's called, is one of the biggest differences between the genders. It's not just the largest gap in physical activities--although it's the largest gap in that field--it's possibly the most salient gap. Period.

Counting standard deviations--the measurement of difference between sets of data--she shows how even the widest psychological differences, like physical aggression (0.60 standard deviations, leaning toward men) aren't as much as you might expect. Less than 0.10 standard deviations or between 0.11 and 0.35 standard deviations was common, and those are both defined as small differences. She also measured motor behaviors in boys and girls ages 3 to 20 to get a sense of the difference. Some of those, like grip strength (0.66, toward the gentlemen again), were large compared to the rest of the data, but still small to moderate overall. Throwing velocity and throwing distance? Both blowouts, at 2.18 and 1.98 standard deviations, respectively. Well above anything else, psychological or physical.
Before puberty, the physical differences between boys and girls (see?) aren't enough to account for the throwing gap; structurally, their bodies should produce the same distance and speed in a throw. Nonetheless, girls are more likely to, for example, throw in a dart-tossing motion or step forward with the incorrect foot, which means a weaker throw. The age group from Hyde's report still falls into post-pubescence, when those natural, physical differences in size and muscle can distort the data, but even at age 4, says Jerry Thomas, dean of the College of Education at the University of North Texas in Denton, the difference is three times higher than any other motor function. In the U.S., where we're so proud of The National Pastime, the effect of doting parents vetting their boys while letting the girls slide on the skill has an effect--the same way it does anywhere baseball or other throwing-heavy sports are popular--but Thomas has researched this, too.

I am not trying to condone using throwing like a girl as an insult. But girls do throw differently and there is science behind that.I am not sure how you could say it without it sounding offensive to girls or women though.

All that aside I think this ad fails where I really would like it to succeed. The message is good, the delivery in my opinion is horrible.