Analysis Of Like A Girl Ad By Always

Soft, uplifting music is playing while women, men, boys, and girls are being called for an interview. The commercial starts with a central question. “What does it mean to do something ‘like a girl?’” Each person is asked to perform various tasks. They are asked to run, throw, and fight “like a girl.” During the first half of the commercial, three women, a man, and a boy perform the tasks in a negative manner. Halfway through the commercial, they ask younger girls to perform the same tasks. The girls perform each activity with their best effort and with full confidence. Towards the end of the video a statement comes up reading “A girl’s confidence plummets during puberty. But it doesn't have to.”

Always effectively convinces that audience that the phrase “like a girl” does not have to be an insult by using the rhetorical appeals of pathos, logos, and ethos. The main rhetorical appeal throughout the commercial is pathos. Always appeals to the audience's emotions by starting the commercial with soft, music. In the beginning, the older girls are seen making fun of themselves by performing activities “like a girl” in a negative way. Seeing these women portray themselves in a negative way makes the audience feels guilty for any past remarks of this common stereotype. This is exactly what Always is intending to do. The girls are first asked to run “like a girl”. They all prance in place and flail their arms in the air to fit the stereotype set by society. It is obvious that if these girls were actually running, they would not run this way. They are then asked to fight “like a girl”. The girls throw pity slaps and act helpless, when in reality they would give it their best shot and throw normal punches.

The purpose of the commercial is to change this stereotype and to empower women to feel confident in everything that they do. When the younger girls are interviewed, the audience’s views are immediately changed because they perform the tasks in such a confident and aspiring manner. When they are interviewed, they run as fast as they can, throw to their best ability, and give their best knockout punches. The commercial states that “A girl’s confidence plummets during puberty. But it doesn't have to.” This fact is used because the older woman were clearly less confident than the young girls. At the end of the commercial, a young girl is asked the question, “What does it mean to you when I say run like a girl.” The little girl responds by saying “It means run as fast as you can.” Her answers touche the audiences because the response seems so real and genuine. It sounds like the girl gave an honest answer, rather than being scripted to say those words.

This commercial makes logical sense because of the timing and choices made by Always. The commercial was released in 2015 during the Super Bowl. Annually, this is one of the most watched televised events in America. Companies pay millions of dollars to air a commercial for just a short sixty seconds. Always strategically released this commercial during a time when a vast amount of women felt inferior to men. They effectively get their message across to their audience by starting the commercial with the older people making fun of girls, rather than starting with the young girls lifting women up. Bringing in the young girls towards the end of the video, helps the message go out with a positive, and uplifting message. The background of the set is a plain blue screen so that the audience focuses on the people rather than get distracted. This is smart because it makes the audience pay attention to the message and the point that Always is trying to get across.

None of the people that made fun of girls in the first half of the commercial gave their names. Always purposely has this happen. Halfway through the commercial, when the young girls come on set, the first girl tells her name and age. This helps the audience feel as if they can connect with her on a personal level. Always establishes a sense of credibility because a lot of their products are used by women. They use people of all ages, races, and genders to give the commercial a diverse audience.