Sohini Sen
Digital

Viral Now: P&G's unstoppable girl

In its latest 'Like a Girl' film, sanitary napkin brand Always has shown once again that being 'like a girl' is not limiting.

One of the most popular Super Bowl videos from last year was the #LikeAGirl campaign from sanitary napkin brand Always. And its second edition takes the story forward by showing how girls are unstoppable, no matter what the society says about them.

Viral Now: P&G's unstoppable girl

The video starts in the same style by asking young girls if they have ever been told they cannot do something because of their gender. Several girls answer with their own experiences, some say they cannot be strong, they cannot do math and that they have to be emotional, among other things. According to an Always survey, 72 per cent girls feel that societal expectations limit them. It is particularly enlightening when a young girl says that in all popular stories it is the boys who save others. This makes her feel that, as a girl, she cannot be brave.

The girls are then asked to write down whatever is limiting them on a cardboard box and then destroy that box. Though destroying a box is just a metaphor, Always makes the point that girls are unstoppable.

It must be recalled that the first 'Like a Girl' video, launched in 2014, had the brand quiz girls on what it meant to play, fight and run like a girl. It revealed how grown-ups would succumb to societal pressures and behave in stereotypical ways, but young girls would be strong and unabashed in whatever they did. The video has recently been voted as one of the 20 best videos of the last decade on YouTube.

The 'Like A Girl' series focusses on the drop in confidence level of girls when they hit puberty. The aim is to let girls know that being a girl, or behaving 'like a girl', is not meant to be a bad thing. Instead, it is strong, beautiful and the very best that one can be.

The current video (Unstoppable), uploaded on July 7, has received 4.3 million hits on YouTube so far. Meanwhile, the original 'Like A Girl' video from June 2014 is running strong with over 58.5 million views on the platform. Both the videos are directed by Lauren Greenfield.

Have news to share? Write to us atnewsteam@afaqs.com