Greetings everyone! Meet Team BUSFAM, a premier creative advertising agency, introducing #BreakingtheAds. In this blog, we will present our unique perspective on Ariel’s new ad campaign, “ShareTheLoad.”
Over the years, women have been depicted in the typical stereotypical roles, typically that of a mother and housewife. However, societal attitudes towards women's roles are changing. Women are now expected to juggle between work and home, successfully managing both.
To change this perspective, Ariel, a leading laundry detergent brand came with its new ad, “See the Signs #ShareTheLoad.” The campaign aims to shed light on gender roles in household chores, urging more men to share responsibilities for a happy marriage.
In this blog, we will discuss the ad campaign in detail and share our thoughts on it.
The ad began narrating the marital journey of an elderly couple whose relationship have evolved over the years. When their daughter visits them, she notices an emotional disconnection between her parents and confronts her father.
Speaking with his daughter, the father realizes that a silent separation has crept between them which transformed them into a separate existence. The daughter recognized the issue and explained to her father that an unequal workload to manage the house without any help could be the reason for drifting apart.
The father acknowledges that he has taken his wife for granted and decides to help the wife and share the load.
The ad ends on a happy note when the wife suddenly wakes up to the sound of the washing machine with her husband bringing tea and asking “Can we start again?”. They laugh and engage in a joyful conversation while the washing machine continues the job.
In the ad, the heartache of a silent separation is shown between an elderly couple. However, they are a reflection of many other young couples who are going through an emotional disconnection because of inequality in the division of household chores.
Ariel took the initiative to break the ice and raised a thought-provoking question, “Are you growing together or falling apart?”
With this ad, Ariel targeted all women who are getting emotionally distant from their partners due to years of unequal burden of household tasks, leading to a breakdown in their relationships.
Though modern society has progressed and believes in gender equality, it would not be wrong to say gender disparity still exists. It is prevalent and deeply rooted especially when it comes to managing household chores.
Shockingly, according to a survey, 64% of women feel an emotional detachment from their husbands due to the responsibility of managing household tasks alone.
Many men have indeed embraced a positive attitude toward sharing the household load, but the percentage is still very low. It is not just about doing laundry, every responsibility of the household like cooking, cleaning, and childcare care was always and still is considered a woman’s job.
According to our society, no matter if she is a working woman or a housewife, a perfect woman is the one who manages everything in the house efficiently.
While it is completely normal in European countries to help your wife take care of the house, it is not the case in India. In our society, the “chore gap” in a relationship is immense.
Arial wanted to change this mindset with their campaign and aimed to promote equal sharing of household load for a healthy and happy relationship.
Ariel firmly believes that equality is the foundation of a strong relationship. Couples who share the load feel valued and respected which significantly strengthens their bond.
Their ad, “See the Signs #ShareTheLoad” focussed on gender equality and encouraged men to share responsibility.