It’s that time of year again when brands suddenly start paying obeisance to women power.

From sentimental to syrupy, serious to light-hearted, quirky to clumsy, sensible to clever, there are just too many International Women’s Day (IWD) campaigns out there. But cutting through the clutter, some that caught the eye are Hershey’s clever pun on its own name with #HerShe stories honouring women who have made a difference, and Instagram’s imaginative diversity stickers.

MG Motors took an early lead with a film that marked two milestones. Made by the #WomenofMG showcased an all-woman crew in its Gujarat plant launching its 50,000th car in India with the message “At MG, women don’t just get cars, they actually build them”, and pointing to its 33 per cent women workforce and goal of achieving 50 per cent.

Another brand that used IWD to tie in two threads was fbb, which, through a film created by DDB Mudra, spun a campaign urging all to make sure that women feel safe during the festival of Holi.

As for the most visually pleasing and peppy campaign, that honour goes to Levi’s. It launched the “When you take a step, we all move” television commercial featuring Deepika Padukone.

Set to the foot -tapping tune of the “Auva Auva Koi Yahan Nache” song, the campaign shows the Bollywood actor along with diverse women dreaming, believing, dancing and taking confident strides. Of course, that campaign has now been hit by allegations of plagiarism of its set location. In these days of extreme scrutiny and activism, it behoves brands to watch every step they take!

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