Tearing Down The Walls
Their eyes met across the counter at the pharmacy; the girl stared as the store guy tried different sizes of brown paper bags to cover the pack of sanitary napkins she had just bought. Her thoughts drifted back and forth between her time in America where this was no taboo but India was different.
We have made brilliant progress in so many spheres of technology, art, science and spirituality but there are somethings that bothers and stunts future growth of a whole generation and maybe more. The change is however visibly fast and we traced a few ads that have been bold.
Touch The Pickle ad for Whisper that was released in June this year is a shining example of breaking a taboo in style. Girls are told to not certain things while they are menstruating and the ad addresses the problem head on. The best part about the ad are the older women, who are chiming “She touched the pickle” and looking genuinely earnest. The ad won a Grand Prix, in the Glass Lions – a new category for Gender Equality at the highly acclaimed Cannes Lions International Festival of creativity 2015.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhHLAHqrGvk&feature=youtu.be&hd=1]
This may come as a shock to many, but our country is still uncomfortable with people who are divorced and widowed, of course this is mostly only applicable to women. So when Tanishq Jewellery released this ad about a divorced woman going through her second wedding, it was tagged “crazy bod” and a “commercial revolution”. Another great sign being a traditional jewellery brand shedding a warm light on a taboo topic like remarriage.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P76E6b7SQs8&hd=1]
It is definitely not as simple as it looks in the commercial. There will always be hiccups when your wife is you boss too. Ego is not all that flexible. But what is so precious about the ad is that it got made in India and is breaking a taboo of women being bosses and husbands being co-operative. It positively communicates the message and this The Airtel Boss ad along with breaking taboos is also so respectful to women across all walks of life.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZijJQmKF-0&hd=1]
This story if you already know it has given you goosebumps along with heaps of motivation. The JSW Steel- Will of Steel, Geeta Phogat’s story is a powerful piece of work and a true story at that. The narrative is so strong, it builds up at the right pace without being over-dramatic but also being blunt, breaking the taboo that women cannot wrestle.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bK04dGgGLY&hd=1]
#Anoukboldisbeautiful ad by Myntra is claimed to be India’s first Lesbian ad. Shot beautifully, the ad spins the situation around a lesbian couples coming out in the open. The banter and the regular flow of conversation through the day, while one of them prepares to bring her parents home to tell them the truth, is cute and bold at the same time.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ef27m5ocK6Q&hd=1]