Hello everyone! Meet Team BUSFAM, a premier creative advertising agency once again welcomes its readers. We are happy to introduce our popular segment #BreakingtheAds. In this episode, we will present our unique perspective on Pantene’s new ad campaign, “Don’t Let Labels Hold You Back.”
No matter how far society has progressed, it is women who have always been labelled when failed to comply with societal perception. These unrealistic expectations have led to biases and discrimination in various aspects of their life. Breaking down these stereotypes is essential to promote gender equality and let each individual live on their own terms.
To shed light on this thought, Pantene, a famous hair care brand came up with their advertisement, “ Labels Against Women” to show the gender bias standards of society.
Unlike this brand’s other advertisements which solely focused on hair care to market their product, they highlighted an important issue which encouraged to women embrace themselves as an independent individual.
Now, let's talk in detail about how Pantene took this initiative to bring a positive change in the mindset of individuals.
As a woman, you might have faced that your behaviour is simply judged just because you are a woman. It is not a new thing; almost every woman has gone through this judgement at some point in their life, whether it is their home, college or workplace.
Pantene’s “ Don’t Let Labels Hold You Back” addresses this issue by highlighting how the same behaviour in men and women is labelled differently. The campaign starts showing a woman called “bossy” when she is trying to show her leadership qualities whereas a man is praised as a boss.
In the next scene, we see that when a female tries to be assertive in her ideas, she is criticised as “pushy” while men showing the same trait are persuasive. Similarly, when she prioritises her career, she is “selfish” but men are viewed as dedicated.
Taking care of oneself can label a woman as “vain” whereas the same scenario in men is neat. While working down the street a well-dressed woman is unfairly judged as a “show off” but the same behaviour of a man is smooth.
Through these real-life scenarios, Pantene challenges the negative discrimination against women and stands up on their behalf to accept themself without paying heed to these remarks.
Pantene’s “ Don’t Let Labels Hold You Back” targets women of all ages who have experienced or are aware of such labels which are often placed on their behaviour that are appreciated in men.
Judging women based on their actions and aspirations has been going on for several years. In our everyday surroundings, we often encounter societal judgements but mostly prefer to stay silent. In some cases, women change themselves for fear of being judged.
However, in reality, labelling will never go away even if you conform to societal norms. As a woman, the responsibility lies on us to be more bold and affirmative in our actions.
With this campaign, Pantene also tried to change the mentality of men. It tried to persuade them to support each other and create a more inclusive society where everyone can thrive.
We must break ourselves from labelling and embrace individuality. It is high time that we as a society accept the potential of women and accept them as leaders.
As it is said in the advertisement, “Don’t Let Label Hold You Back”, Pantene gave the message that all women must stand strong and shine.
We also believed that women are not inferior to men and they must not be discouraged by any labels and unfair treatment of them.
This was BUSFAM’s, a creative advertising agency views on Pantene’s advertisement.
Stay tuned for another #BreakingtheAds segment.