{"id":247,"date":"2018-11-16T12:27:17","date_gmt":"2018-11-16T06:57:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marshmallow.in\/blog\/?p=247"},"modified":"2020-08-18T12:00:59","modified_gmt":"2020-08-18T06:30:59","slug":"fair-lovely-ads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marshmallow.in\/blog\/fair-lovely-ads\/","title":{"rendered":"How fair are our lovely ads?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Remember the days when ad folks weren\u2019t sensitive enough? The days when fairness was shoved as a virtue down every brown girl\u2019s throat. The days when the worth of a bottle of cola would be defined by how sultry the female ambassador\u2019s swimming costume is. When people used to be relegated as clich\u00e9s depending on their caste, creed, and colour. And the days when humour used be placed above sensitivity. This school of advertising is now non-existent and let\u2019s thank goodness for that.
\nFrom the time when the \u2018intolerant and unfair but lovely\u2019campaigns used to dominate the advertising narrative to the times of today that capture lovely ads with lovely emotions and fair representation \u2013 advertising has matured, slowly but surely.
\nAd agencies are pushing the envelope, breaking barriers and thinking from the heart and thereby promoting the brand by positioning a larger purpose. Are consumers buying this proposition? Most probably. At least statistics say so – as per a survey conducted by Lowe Lintas with MSN India and Cross Tab (2011), 57% of Indian respondents trust brands that do CSR more than brands that do not and 69% of the respondents prefer buying a brand involved in CSR work, compared to a brand that isn\u2019t, all other factors remaining equal.<\/p>\n

Clearly, changing societal behaviour for good is the new way to influence consumer behaviour.<\/p>\n

Take a look at the Super Bowl ads for 2017 alone, and you\u2019ll observe the major shift in the narratives embraced by most brands. The focus has now moved from \u2018titillation\u2019 to \u2018sensitisation\u2019 with brands taking a stand on subjects like immigration, the climate, eco-friendly products, equal pay for women, racism, sexism, and so much more. Closer home, in India, too, the mood of the madmen is changing with a plethora of storyboards breaking the stereotypes.<\/p>\n

The Coke-Pepsi-Thumsup\u2019s stronger, sweeter, bubblier battle is long over \u2013 why? We are now interested in knowing who\u2019s spreading more happiness. Take Tanishq ads as a case in point, compare the brand\u2019s current set of ads with the ones produced before a decade and we know that audience is now no more attracted by objects of desire but they are interested in subjects that matters. Social marketing in India has fast become the way to promote products in a responsible manner. What\u2019s new? The neologism \u2018Femvertising\u2019 which means the use of feminism in advertising is picking up pace.<\/p>\n

Ariel was quick to ride on the new wave in 2015 with its out-of-the-box #ShareTheLoad campaign finding nation-wide resonance amidst men and women alike. The campaign won a Glass Lion at Cannes in 2015, a Gold Spike and a prize at the Spikes Asia 2015 in Singapore. The video became so popular that Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg called it one of the most powerful ads she\u2019d ever seen.<\/p>\n