Lean In author and Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg calls the new P&G ad for Ariel one of the most powerful videos she has ever seen. And that's too bad, because the ad doesn't go nearly far enough.


In her FB post, Sandberg writes:
This is one of the most powerful videos I have ever seen – showing how stereotypes hurt all of us and are passed from generation to generation. When little girls and boys play house they model their parents' behavior; this doesn’t just impact their childhood games, it shapes their long-term dreams.

In this ‪#‎SharetheLoad‬ campaign, Ariel India, P&G, and BBDO Worldwide show how fathers and husbands can take small steps (like doing laundry) to create more equal homes. They won a ‪#‎GlassLion‬ at the 2015 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity for earlier work on this campaign. The real win is the way they are changing stereotypes and showing that a more equal world would be a better world for all of us.

Now, if the ad makers really wanted to make a statement, the mom would:

• Dump the coffee on her do-nothing husband and make him fix his own dinner;
• Demand her spoiled brat son pick up his own toys; and
• Insist her father put down his pen and pick up a mop. After all, nothing changes if nothing changes.


We've all seen how cultures in general, and India in particular, treat women as second-class citizens. Sometimes it's better to fix things with a sledgehammer instead of a suggestion.