Since I'm all about advertising and the philosophy around it I felt the need to let someone over at P&G know my frustration with this commercial - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9LTRbWsGOI&feature=player_embedded

My response to P&G (sent through their online feedback form).

I want to voice my concern and disgust in a commercial that you are currently running. This commercial (for Tide Booster) features a mother and a child. The little girl is building blocks and wearing a hoodie and camo shorts while the mother is vilifying her to the audience for her non-conformist choice of clothing. As someone who works in the marketing and communications field I’m very surprised that your team thought this was acceptable or just good advertising in general.

This ad is disconcerting (and beyond that) for the sake that it’s very problematic. It reinforces archaic gender stereotype and ‘norms’ by suggesting that a girl not dressing in pink is wrong. It gives the impression that ‘girls shouldn’t’; girls shouldn’t dress in hoodies and shorts, girls shouldn’t wear brown, girls shouldn’t want to be different, or make their own choices and of course; girls shouldn’t use their imaginations or play with ‘boy’ toys, or build parking garages. Proper girls, who deserve the love and acceptance of even their own mothers don’t do these things. What kind of message is that? Please consider what messages this ad is sending to people (not just women, or little girls, but men, fathers, little boys, transgender, etc). Surely the Tide brand has any great number of different, non insulting messages to transmit.

Not only is it irresponsible, it’s thoughtless. There is a distinct difference between knowing and selling to your audience or demo and reinforcing a tired idea of what your demo is (I’m sure this will come as a surprise to you, or so it seems by your advertising, women are more than laundry machines, or “domestic engineers”).

Furthermore, it’s uncreative and lazy. From an advertising point of view I’d much rather just hear you tell me about the brand than try to make me feel familiar by demonstrating that I should care about keeping a perfect house with a perfect child (and by that I mean a child who does what I wish, and wears what I wish to maintain the image I desire).

Please take a moment (or longer, that could help too) to consider the poor messaging you are relying on to sell your brand. Ethics in advertising should be key to your strategy as a brand. Advertising is not innocuous - it’s not falling on deaf ears or turned to blind eyes, it’s being broadcasted to people who are trained and willing to receive these messages. That’s why the big guys (like P&G) spend so much money on it right? Be responsible and scrap this shitty messaging.