Want Your Ads to Engage Women? Empower Them

Women in commercials were portrayed as either mothers or models, wives or waitresses, with few depictions of the diverse lives they could lead outside of their relationships to men or children. If they weren't arm candy, they were eye candy, as scantily clad women promoted everything from beer to cheeseburgers to gym memberships. But recently, they've seen some brave advertisers portray women and girls in a new tight, one focused on breaking down stereotypes, rather than reinforcing them. From Always #LikeAGirl to Nike's #BetterForIt, women are being encouraged, celebrated, held up not for how they look but for what they can accomplish.