Last year, GoldieBlox made the news for its awesome advertisements and resulting battle with the Beastie Boys over use of the song "Girls." After settling their legal troubles, they're back and better than ever with the awesome new "This Is Your Brain On Engineering" ad just in time for Easter. Featuring the Rube Goldberg machine to end all Rube Goldberg machines, the ad takes one little, bitty egg on a journey through the pitfalls of princess culture. Drawing attention to the gender norms placed on girls an early age, it highlights some discouraging statistics bout the presence of women in engineering — but also drives home the fact that Goldieblox intends to do something about the problem. Happily, the egg comes out safe and sound on the other side, thanks to a clever assemblage of pulleys, conveyor belts, and more, undergoing a fabulous transformation in the process.
While I don’t think playing princess is inherently bad for little girls, too often the message jammed down their tiny little throats is that princesses are the only thing they can be. GoldieBlox turns it all on its head, though, preparing the way for the future women engineers, mathematicians, and scientists of the world with their terrific toys and incredible ad campaigns. If GoldieBlox had been around when I was a kid, I definitely would have wanted a set or two (or three, or five) in my toy box.
Production on the video was headed up by a creative team led by women — something which doesn’t happen nearly often enough, even in this day and age —and it also hints at some of the exciting things in store for GoldieBlox in the year to come. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to see what they are!
Image: GoldieBlox
