Breakthrough Advertising to Break Down the Stereotypes

Under the category of better late than never, fifteen weeks of college advertising study often culminates with a discussion of advertising’s social, ethical and economic impact and influence on us – the community. 

And after a delicate verbal balancing act –it comes down to whether or not each of us believes that we govern our own actions. That is, whether advertising reflects society’s actions and decisions -- or shapes them.

This discussion then proceeds to discuss and provide examples for the problems most advertising critics rave about: advertising is deceptive, offensive, shocking for sheer shock value. It makes kids into a marketplace, it makes us want things we do not want or need, it promotes materialism of the highest order.

But after all the years of being a consumer and a marketer I still sit firmly on the line – trying to find and reveal some of the finest advertising that dispels this negative controversy. True to form, there’s not that much great advertising around and the poignant messages that beat down the stereotypes and sexual appeals aren’t that easy to find. 

But when marketers get it right – hold on to your heart. The best advertising you will ever see is the type that speaks the truth to YOU in a meaningful way.  

My particular favorites – many accessible via YouTube or web articles include:

Nike -- “If You Let Me Play” – Mid 1990s Nike reaching out to a female audience with a powerful message.  It was presented in print, but when executed in television nothing came close to hearing these words from the mouths of young girls:

"If you let me play sports
I will like myself more;
I will have more self-confidence,
I will be 60 percent less likely to get breast cancer;
I will suffer less depression.
I will be more likely to leave a man who beats me.
I will be less likely to get pregnant
I will learn what it means to be strong.
If you let me play sports."

Dove – “Evolution” – 2006 as a viral video on the Internet and a TV commercial with over 41 million views it went on to become the Grand Prix award winner in the both cyber and film categories at the 2007 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. Roughly 12 hours of film is condensed into a 75-second spot that shows how an average-looking woman can be made up, teased and digitally manipulated to show a perfect – and perfectly impossible to replicate – fashion model and ad.

It is equal in its ferocity to Dove’s 2006 Super Bowl Ad, “True Colors” – where the young girls depicted in the photos are defined by words on how they hate their looks and the voices singing the familiar Cyndi Lauper tune are home-grown – the Girl Scout of Nassau County’s Chorus.  

Ikea – various global television and print attempts over the last twenty years  to promote something other than the “typical” family as furniture consumers:  interracial couples, families with an adopted child, gay couples -- since households are no longer statistically made up of mom, dad, 2.5 kids and a dog.

Pepsi – Bob’s House – 2008 Super Bowl Ad – that brought the humor and lifestyle of the deaf community front and center – as people with real lives and identities.

I know there are more ads out there, breaking stereotypes and pushing the envelope to reflect our lives in 2011. Unfortunately they still are few and far between – contingent on individual taste, beliefs and (dare I suggest?) our morals.  However, we keep watching the ones that breakthrough --  advertising that gains notoriety if only because it is so unique and alone.