Gender equality at home

The campaign launched in 2016 brings in the perspective of an empathetic male on removing gender biases at home

The film opens with the shot of a grandfather playing with his grandson at his daughter's home. In walks his daughter, tired from a hard day's work. But she has no rest. The moment she steps in with her handbag and groceries, her role as a mother and wife kicks in. Providing tea to her husband, giving her father his flight tickets, putting the clothes in the washing machine...the list is endless. The woman handles all these tasks even as she juggles office work.

The message is delivered with a punch, "I wish I had helped your mother and that your husband's father had helped his wife, this cycle of inequality would not have continued," the father writes to his daughter in a letter. He promises to change and starts with helping his wife with the laundry.

Ad agency BBDO India's campaign for Procter & Gamble's Ariel Matic detergent has won accolades around the world. But more importantly, it

has sparked off a chain of conversations that highlight the man-woman divide when it comes to sharing the housework. First released in 2015, it was brought back this year as Dads#Sharetheload. "Gender equality begins at home and that was the message the campaign wished to convey," says the agency's chairman and chief creative officer Josy Paul. It has won a gold and four bronze Lions at the Cannes Ad Fest this year.

The gold was in the glass category, while the bronze Lions were in creative effectiveness, cyber, entertainment and film, an all-round performance by any yardstick.

'Share the Load' was also among the most widely appreciated campaigns at Cannes, making it to the shortlist stage of the integrated category, one of the most coveted segments at Cannes. Paul says he received a number of requests for meetings with top marketing executives of blue-chip companies, keen to understand the campaign in greater detail.

In 2015, the campaign had stressed on whether laundry was only a woman's job and the second phase, launched this year has taken it to the next level by bringing in the perspective of an empathetic male figure. "The story is told through the eyes of the father, who realises that gender equality must begin at home if this world has to become a better place. It is both an awakening and an apology by the father to his daughter, which touched a chord. Whoever saw it was moved," says Paul.

ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

• BBDO Mumbai bagged one Glass Lion and four bronze Lions for Dads#Sharetheload campaign that highlighted gender inequality
• Launched in 2015, the campaign asked, “Is laundry only a woman’s job?” The first ad had two elderly women talking up the issue. They marvel at the progress women have made at the workplace only to have their bubble burst when the son hollers for his laundry
• In 2016, the campaign was brought back with a new ad where a man writes an apology to his daughter for his failure to challenge patriarchal attitudes to housework. He promises to change himself and help her mother with the laundry
• Since its launch in February 2016, the campaign has received over 50 million views and two billion impressions
• Sheryl Sandberg, COO Facebook posted the video on her timeline and wrote, “This is one of the most powerful videos I have ever seen — showing how stereotypes hurt all of us and are passed from generation to generation”
• Josy Paul, chairman and chief creative officer at BBDO India, speaking to the media after his win, said that four hypothesis and ideas were shared with the Ariel brand team. It was the client who picked the idea of ‘sharing the load’ for the campaign

This response is reflected in numbers as well. Since its launch in February this year, it has received over 50 million views and two billion impressions. It also sparked conversations online with Facebook's chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg describing it as "one of the most powerful videos she has ever seen". Bill Gates' wife Melinda Gates tweeted, "When men and women challenge the assumption that household chores are women's work, everyone benefits."

The movement was taken offline with Procter & Gamble creating a calendar called 'His & Her Odd Even Calendar' on the packaging of Ariel Matic detergent helping the father and mother determine 'his and her days' for doing the laundry. Paul says that the gender equality movement through laundry is expected to continue. The next phase is being eagerly awaited.

The second, in a four-part series on award-winning work at the Cannes Ad Fest 2016 looks at BBDO’s ‘Share the Load’ campaign that won a gold and four bronze Lions