It’s International Women’s Day tomorrow, which means it’s the perfect time for brands to come up with creative marketing ideas to show their appreciation for all the amazing women in the world. Embrace Equity- this year’s Women’s Day theme sought to encourage people to lay emphasis on creating a more equitable society instead of chasing an equal one.
And brands completely latched onto this theme. From celebrating her beauty to career choices and diversity, brands did everything this year to ensure that their ads lived up to the theme of this year’s IWD.
So, without wasting any more time, here are 5 awesome International Women’s Day 2023 ad campaigns that will inspire one and all.
1. PregaNews: #MarkofStrength
How often do we see women wholly altering their dressing style after pregnancy? Happens almost every time, right? But why does it have to be so? This is the main question that this pregnancy-testing kit manufacturer seeks to answer through this 150-second spot.
The ad shows a woman refraining from buying the dress of her choice because of the weight that she’s put on post-pregnancy. But when she sees another woman who’s completely unrestrained in her choice of clothes even after giving birth to a child, she decides to go ahead with her original choice and begins to see the changes in her body as a mark of strength.
2. Slater & Gordon Lawyers (UK): #Messageto16YearOldSelf
The journeys that most women go through in their lives, both personally and professionally, are nothing short of an adventure at times. And this is best summarised in this ad that depicted what life has been like for these three women working at Slater & Gordon Lawyers so far and what message they’d like to give to their younger selves.
The ad showcases the law firm asking three women at different stages of their careers what they would tell their 16-year-old selves about life up until this point. Emily Upright, Trainee Solicitor, Natasha Orr, Associate, and Kelly McGuire, Operations Manager reflect on their journeys into law, their career highlights, and the advice they’ve learned along the way.
3. Hershey’s: #HerForShe
Chocolate and cocoa-producing company Hershey’s came up with a brilliant ad campaign for IWD 2023, which for some reason created quite an uproar amongst certain sections.
The ad puts a transwoman at the center of the ad as the brand tries to portray itself as a place where people could freely be themselves. However, prominent conservatives weren’t too impressed by the inclusion of a transwoman in the ad as they saw this as an intrusion into women’s space and erasing women through the employment of a biological male to represent them.
Honestly, the gender with which a person identifies themselves is wholly their business and going bonkers about it is just a reflection of the intellectual bankruptcy in society.
4. Darcey Flowers: #CelebrateInterconnectedness
Darcey Flowers released a wonderful 2023 IWD advert to honor the accomplishments of women throughout the world while also recognizing the work that remains to be done to achieve gender parity.
The ad showcases that genuine equity can be attained only through recognizing and celebrating the diversity and interconnectedness of women's experiences. The ad exhorts viewers to acknowledge and address the specific obstacles that women of all colors, ethnicities, abilities, sexual orientations and socioeconomic origins confront.
5. Tata Technologies: #EmbraceEquity
The last advert on the list is that of Tata Technologies which released a brief but impactful video to urge viewers to embrace equity.
The ad shows the many stereotypes that the patriarchal world has with respect to women like they are weak and emotional, their inability to match up to men, and their sheer incapacity to carry out some of the tasks otherwise done by men. However, the ad tries to break these stereotypes by depicting how women are vying to be equal with the menfolk.
After all, if she can keep a 5-8 pound baby inside her for months, she’s got to be strong!
Wrapping Up
Societal norms are changing rapidly and the fight today is not for an equal society but an equitable society where marginalized and disadvantaged communities can have the opportunity to level up with the more advantageous groups. And what better way to do that than getting half of your population to pass the equity test?
We’ll be back with more awesome commercials for you. Till then, stay tuned!