One hundred days prior to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, Procter and Gamble aired an emotionally riveting and tear inducing commercial.
If you haven’t seen it, watch it now, I’ll wait.
In contrast to athletes dripping sweat, P&G’s commercial results in viewers dripping tears. I am admittedly one of them.
Produced by Wieden & Kennedy, the “Strong” advertisement is a continuation of P&G’s “Thank you, Mom” campaign.
The overall “Thank you, Mom” campaign promotes P&G’s Olympic sponsorship and chooses to focus on mothers rather than athletes. P&G’s alternative strategy has earned accolades with consumers and the advertising industry.
Previous editions focused on the sacrifices mothers make to help their child train for the Olympics. This year’s version focuses how a mother’s strength provides the foundation to overcome the strains of training and obstacles of everyday life.
P&G seems to be highlighting motherly strength, but are they really? What are the repercussions of this message?
Let’s wipe away our tears and dig deeper to uncover what values are being sold.
Perpetuating Norms
The production and consumption of commercials do not occur in a vacuum. The analysis of advertising, and the embedded messages, needs to consider the influence of political, economic and social structures.
In short, advertising perpetuates certain ideals.
In her film Killing Us Softly 4, Jean Kilbourne warns that advertising sells more than products. It sells values and expectations.
Even though there is growing acceptance of women in the workforce, cultural messages disseminated through the “Thank you, Mom” campaign emphasize the female role at home.
P&G is perpetuating a norm that a continually present, strong mother figure is necessary for a child to succeed. Representing strength by physical presence only alienates the many ways a parent can provide support.
Motherhood, and on a larger scale guardianship, comes in vastly different forms.
I have witnessed many working parents be mentally and emotionally present for their children. They may not be present to drop their kid off at school, but when they are there, they are 100 percent present. They also sacrifice and give their children strength.
P&G likely (and hopefully) didn’t intend to disenfranchise other forms of guardianship, but as a viewer, we should be cognizant of the social norms being communicated.
Granted, this year’s campaign included olympian Simone Biles who was adopted and raised by her grandparents. Simone considers her grandmother to be her mother and relies on her strength.
While I love the focus on female strength, P&G is deliberately perpetuating the domesticated supermom stereotype is being perpetuated.
Perpetuating Shame
P&G aims to evoke feelings of celebration and validation. An alternative interpretation is a feeling of shame. Shame because maybe the expectation of strength can’t be fulfilled. Shame because maybe we feel weak and therefore unworthy to be a mother.
Shame, as described as Brené Brown, is an “intensely painful feeling or experience of believing that we are flawed and therefore unworthy of love and belonging.”
In her TED Talk, she explains how shame is organized by gender. Women are told, “do it all, do it perfectly and to never let them see you sweat.” Brené explains this is an unattainable and conflicting expectation.
P&G’s spot indirectly shames mother’s who can’t fulfill this specific representation of strength.
Question What You Receive
My intent is not to argue the value of working moms vs. stay-at-home moms.
My concern is viewers are swept away by the commercial’s emotional rollercoaster and fail to question underlying cultural messages and economic motives.
My intent is to illustrate the necessity of viewing commercials not as stand-alone entity, but in the context of current cultural and social situations. As a profit driven, publically traded company, P&G has interest in building and maintaining a steady revenue stream – a revenue stream full of strong mothers.
The responsibility lies with the viewer to filter societal expectations or norms perpetuated by various forms of media.
Without a doubt, as a child and now as an adult, I rely on my mother’s strength – strength I can only hope to someday replicate.
