The Creative Arts Emmys just had a quiet, feminist moment. The Always #LikeAGirl ad campaign won the Emmy for Outstanding Commercial. Remember how awesome that was when it aired during the Super Bowl? It was a cute commercial that wormed its way into our hearts and then challenged how we think about gender roles. The other nominees included a few other Super Bowl favorites, including the absurd Brady Bunch Snickers ad and Nissan's depressing commercial about Dads.
The ad took a variety of actors and asked them to do a variety of tasking, such as running, throwing, and fighting, "like a girl." The experiment noticed a divide between the responses from young girls and both boys and older girls. The latter took the phrase as an insult, and what they acted out mocked a perceived female weakness. The little girls? They ran, they threw, and they fought as hard as they could. They hadn't learned to think poorly of themselves yet. Isn't it amazing how that's simultaneously inspiring and depressing? It's no wonder that the commercial is getting this kind of recognition. Simplicity was power here, and it showed.
This is awesome for commercials and for the Emmy Awards themselves. Get used to it, because they're going to be even more feminist next Sunday's Primetime Emmy Awards — the Television Academy has teamed up with Amy Poehler and her organization Smart Girls At The Party to change red carpet interview discourse.
Watch the Emmy award-winning ad again here. It's such an ultimately uplifting commercial and always (no pun intended) worth a re-watch!
Image: Always/Youtube (screengrab)
