Why brands must rethink their portrayal of women in festive ads

New Delhi: During Navratri, she is Goddess Durga endorsing heart-friendly cooking oil for her husband. With Diwali, she becomes the daughter-in-law who splurges on the perfect festive wardrobe for her family. At weddings, she is the divine essence of Lakshmi walking in with jewellery that makes onlookers drool. 

For ages, women have been portrayed in roles that command empathy, care, service and love. Her narrative has shifted from the kitchen to the nursery, from caretaker to care provider but the invisible reins of subordination still prevail, even in advertisements of today. 

The brands often associated with the female counterpart are ones that deal with the homely aspects of life, ones that are easy to depict with a teacup in her hand, a wrinkling saree, probably a crying baby she has grown accustomed to. 

The narratives during festive seasons are no different except for the additional pzazz and glamour element of celebration added to her role. 

Why is it important for brands, especially during the festive season, to challenge such preconceived narratives when keeping women on the pedestal?

Manisha Kapoor, CEO and Secretary General, ASCI, answered it as she acknowledged that advertising, unlike other media, apart from being pervasive, is repetitive. 

She said, “Ads are bullets of messaging we are repeatedly inundated with. Images, moving and still, seep into the collective imagination of aspiration—not just for days or the length of campaigns—or through individual instances of tactical communication, but over years, even decades. Hence, it is critical that advertising embrace positive gender depictions.”

A recent VDO.ai festive report revealed that 81% of primary decision-makers during festivals are women, highlighting the importance of understanding the nuances of female-centric marketing without crossing into stereotypical territory. 

Similarly, according to the Disney+ Hotstar Festive sentiment survey, women shoppers will increase their budget by 70% compared to last year and shop across more than two categories. 

BestMediaInfo spoke to various creatives and industry experts to understand the narratives that women crave to be a part of this festive season and beyond and the common stereotypes that brands need to turn their heads away from. 

The empowerment angle 

Kapoor underlined the overly-believed narrative that the role of the woman is typically depicted as being paired with auspiciousness. She believes that this results in backgrounding the huge amount of demands made of her to look and dress a certain way, take care of unexpected guests, and always be ready for rituals and food.

Kruthika Ravindran, Director of Key Accounts at TheSmallBigIdea, opined that while brands jump on the bandwagon of ‘empowering women,’ it is important to not tokenise them. 

She added, “Empowering women is more than a trend; it's a powerful statement.”

Stepping away from the ‘multitasker’ role

For long, women have been associated with roles that necessitate them to be ‘multitaskers.’

Kapoor added that ads place the woman at the core of festive celebrations, either as a mute motif of auspiciousness or the central ‘festive worker’ making sweets, stringing garlands, or drawing rangoli. This normalises that she is the one who has to manage an extra load of festivities, usually without help from others at home. 

“The ads also often blur any individual achievements and often create unrealistic expectations of her role during the festivities,” she added. 

Shitu Patil, Joint National Creative Director, Publicis India, stated that for years, socio-cultural norms in India have perpetuated a stereotypical portrayal of women and though this is changing now, brands need to catch up faster to acknowledge the multifaceted roles women play and craft narratives that resonate with today’s reality.

Shoubhik Roy, Señor Creative Director at Dentsu Creative, opined in tandem with the above and highlighted that brands showing women balancing more than just family duties are the key to speaking authentically to today’s Indian woman.

He added that campaigns should focus on empowerment and self-care, not the tired trope of sacrificing everything for others. 

He said, “This message should go beyond the festive season—celebrate women for who they are, not who tradition says they should be.”

Take the real, relatable route

Using women in any plot often bubbles down to making them walk the tightrope of perfection. Turning a blind eye to their diversity, challenges and identities will do nothing to help a brand’s cause as Roy opines that brands need to showcase women in all shapes, shades, and socio-economic statuses. 

He added, “Stop pushing the perfect, airbrushed woman. Start representing the real and relatable ones.”

Under her pallu: shifting narratives

Chuck the teacup, ladle, gaudy sarees, kitchen aesthetics, and shake narratives to tailor to ‘what women are’ than ‘what women were.’ 

‘No more playing second fiddle,’ stated Roy as he added that brands need to show women taking the lead in modern roles, sharing responsibilities equally with men, or even organising events or businesses.

Not another decor 

Adyasha Roy Tomar, Creative Director at McCann Worldgroup, highlighted that a great rule of thumb would also be to not use women in a Diwali ad as Diwali Decor. Ditching the ‘diyas and divas lighting up the screen’ narrative, Tomar asked brands to make women protagonists and added, “Give us stories, dialogues, songs, rants, characters.”

Dishing out more ideas to really flesh out the women protagonists, Tomar added how instead of being the chef, she could be the critique “because who knows festive flavour better than her?”

She reminded brands that if women are the majority decision-makers here for all these 'women centric products', then it makes sense to show women as the consumers. 

Tomar believes that just as important it is to not stereotype women and put them into these festive tropes, it is also just as important to not glorify men for doing the bare minimum. 

Brands glorifying the bare minimum do nothing to change the narrative, as it fixates on gender-specific narratives, that, when broken, get called ‘revolutionary.’ 

She clarified that a man making rangoli isn't groundbreaking, a working father picking up the Diwali-cleaning chores is just as special as a stay-at-home mom doing the same after a hard day.

Make it fun ‘for her’ 

Pallavi Chakravarti, Founder and CCO, Fundamental, echoed her sentiment as she highlighted that festivals are also about fun—when was the last time we saw the fun side of a mom? What if she’s a prankster? What if she cooks up an excuse to bunk work ahead of the festival instead of cooking up desi ghee-laden meals? What if she goes out shopping for herself? 

Chakravarti added that women can be much more than the facilitators of joy and togetherness for the rest of the universe. 

Ravindran concurred with brands' understanding of women’s idea of fun and added that festive seasons hold different meanings for different women. Understanding these cultural nuances and tailoring the messaging accordingly can create a more personalised and impactful experience. 

‘Ghar ki lakshmi’ 

It has always been contradictory how women have been reckoned to be the ‘Lakshmi’ of the house but very rarely are they represented in ads that deal with financial services or anything to do with money. 

Moumita Pal, NCD, Dentsu Creative, elucidated this skewed portrayal and said, “For as long as I can remember, it's been the man’s money and the wife’s decision, the man’s money and the mother’s considerate choice, the man’s money and the sister’s delightful purchase. We need more ads where the woman earns, the woman decides, and the woman buys—for herself, her husband, her children, or her family."

Beyond the festivities

Advocating women's positive narratives is more than just a boardroom conversation dealing with ads for festivals. If change is to be seeded in advertising gender-friendly storylines, the initiatives need to echo beyond just topical campaigns. 

Roy believes that brands need to understand women’s year-round needs beyond the gimmicks of festivities, whether it’s financial independence, personal growth, or family well-being. 

He added, “Use festive campaigns as a starting point, not the end goal.”

He believes that brands need to make women feel empowered, not sold to. 

Kapoor shared that the ASCI GenderNext report offers tools to help brands avoid stereotyping. The SEA framework equips creators with a guide to include more positive portrayals of women, while the 3-S screener helps to examine overlooked but problematic aspects of advertising. This can be a useful guide while coming up with brand campaigns for the festive season.

Read the report here: https://www.ascionline.in/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/GenderNext-Report.pdf