Plenty of brands put out ads for International Women’s Day, but which rose to the top??That was the question Cutwater Creatives
Taylor Smith
,
Lexi Lanzi
, and
Alexandra Ebright
asked themselves when analyzing and observing this year’s crop of spots. Knowing that in the past, many brands and agencies failed to recognize Women’s History Month in an authentic way, they graded this year’s ads on criteria ranging from authentic messaging to relativity and inspiration. Here are their favorites:
- From Taylor: Not all brand spots have to be about the brand. I love when brands can see past the annoying ROI’s and KPI’s and instead use their budget and platform to raise awareness and create beautiful stories that champion a cause. I loved this story from Mercedes-Benz, and double love that they used a fantastic female director, Fiona Jane Burgess. The monologue throughout the spot was beautifully written and inspiring. It had me thinking back to myself at a young age and wanting to tell that little girl, keep f*cking going. You’re better than the boys. Now I’m crying. UGH!?
- From Lexi: This one really got me thinking... It has so often been the narrative to put pressure on one woman within a discipline to change the course of history - to put the rest of us women at the table too. But there’s already so much pressure because we all always have to do the extra work. It was refreshing to hear this from a perspective of us. Not just you, not just me, not just her – but all of us together. Because we all deserve to be a part of history, whether we tried or not. It’s our right to be equal.
- From Alex: Mercedes got it right.? It excites me that a prestige legacy brand is this smart and willing to put money behind something that isn’t explicitly brand related. The insight that women should simply be able to stand on equal ground as one of many others is rock solid. I also love this coming on the heels of an Alabama girls basketball team beating a boys team in an all boys league (kicker is they didn’t get a trophy because they were girls…gross).? We have a way to go but this spot was truly inspiring to keep pushing forward.
- From Taylor: Goodness this spot really highlighted how insanely sexist beer companies have been in the past. I think this entire concept, while a bit lofty, is incredible. They’re communicating historical facts while also promoting zero waste! The comedy, and Ilana Glazer starring, is the cherry on top of a wonderful homage to the female brewers who did it all in the beginning. The brand did a great job of doing something actionable for women.?
- From Alex: "The Good $#!T" by Miller Lite really spoke to me. It takes historical facts - women were the original beer brewers and historically objectified by the beer industry and creates a real benefit for the women brewers of today. It's a win in my book. It's a bit of a long walk for a ham sandwich (the hops created from the old ads) but it's an important ham sandwich conceptually. It calls attention to the way the alcohol and ad industry has historically treated women and opens up a conversation about how we can all do better in those spaces. Also, they get huge points for a campaign that does more than simply exist in the digital world - this hits hard on a truly conceptually consistent execution and it doesn't pander to the idea of International Women's Day.
- From Lexi: I love this. I certainly didn’t know these historical facts about beer, and I bet men don’t either. It’s wild to see the room of ads that objectify women to sell products. Yikes. Any brand can talk the talk, but Miller Lite actually DID SOMETHING with their talk. Creating a program out of their concept that supports women… *chef’s kiss*
- From Taylor: I absolutely loved this campaign, the idea, the mantra, even the pay off is really inspiring. One of the hard parts of being a woman is knowing the right people and having the ability to put your work in the right hands. Bose creating a Board of successful producers at a variety of record labels that younger, or less-known producers can submit their work to is wonderful. It’s an opportunity for female and non-binary producers to actually get their work noticed by the right individuals that will lift them up. It champions women in a space where men mostly get the spotlight. The spot was great, but the action taken to get more non-male music producers in the industry is really incredible. Let’s hope it really works!?
- From Lexi: I love that this champions women in a part of the music industry that is a little more behind the scenes. It’s common now to see a lot of women as the face of music, but that’s only surface level. Let’s get talking about the gender gap in places you don’t always get to see.
- From Alex: This one hit home for me. My side hustle is illustrating vinyl album covers and doing music posters. And guess who I have never done one for? A woman. Aside from that, when I started I felt distinctly like I wasn’t “qualified” or “cool” enough to do them.? In general this spot speaks to the overwhelming feelings women have to even think they’re qualified before applying for that job or starting a project. And, it's simply a false thought that has been baked into us.? I also love that Bose brought light to the female qualifier of anything. We don’t need “female” producers, we need women that don’t see a barrier to entry in any industry because their gender is the least interesting thing about the work they do.??