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Patricia Dominguez
Professor Melissa Filbeck
English 113A
October 20, 2014
Like a Girl
The Always feminine product company created a gender based ad that went viral making
it a hit it all over news feeds such as Facebook and twitter. They called it the Like a Girl
campaign. In the short video, the award winning director Lauren Greenfield asks both genders of
thirteen and up, then asks young girls who havent gone through puberty what it means to do
something like a girl. The reactions of the video were astonishing. To many running, hitting,
and being like a girl is seen more and more as a negative thing as young girls hit puberty,
making their self-esteem plummet. The Always company campaign ad was portrayed as a help
and make a change ad targeted at younger women by using rhetorical strategies like ethos,
pathos, and logos by also advertising the sale of their product.
The advertisement begins the sale of their product with the video showing young girls
and boys, older woman and one man being asked what does it mean to do something like a girl.
Always uses logos by choosing these specific people on purpose to show the statistics on how
young girls actually say being like a girl means a positive thing. Rather than the older women,
men, and boy react to it as if it was an insult to them. On an interview with ABC News, Emma
Bazilian, staff writer from AdWeek, says that girls become more vulnerable between the ages ten
through twelve. Always shows logos by lack of logic with different age groups to see how they
have affected the way young girls think, bringing their self-confidence down. Showing viewers
the response of woman and men of all ages; more than 50% of young girls lose confidence

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during puberty (Ad Age). Since Always is known to be the highest ranked feminine product used
by women, they use advertising to offer their help reaching out to young girls, to try and make
them feel safe using their product during their time of change.
Getting into the detail of the video, when women are offended by men, we take a stand
and try to show them woman can do anything men can do, maybe even better. This ad purposely
shows pathos when a man and young boy being asked the same question of what does it mean to
be like a girl and both have reactions that are offensive which as a viewer of the campaign
myself is bothersome. Though when the older women also showed the same reaction as the man,
they make you really re think the situation. When woman are found agreeing with men it makes
another women not only feel bad about themselves but also vulnerable. That the exact main point
of the video was to grab the viewers attention, that was to show an actual issue young girls are
letting slide instead of actually saying something about it. A young girl around 12 years old, is
asked if being like a girl a good thing, she responds with I dont know if its a bad or good
thing, it sounds like a bad thing, like youre trying to humiliate someone. That is where Always
emphasizes its pathos by making the viewer take the time and think if this is a serious issue and
even make them forget that its an actual advertisement. Its an eye opener Always tried to make a
point with its viewers and buyers by using pathos by reaching out to them talking about sensitive
subject their buyers can relate to.
In the end of the video, the award winning director Lauren Greenfield helps make the
Always campaign possible because she is personally asking what it means to be like a girl . It
comes off as knowing the real problem and situation that the company is trying to convey still
coming off as pathos then transitioning to ethos. In an interview video by Always, Greenfield
says, Confidence should mean to find your own path and stability. What Greenfield means by

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that is everyone is different, therefore everyone has their strengths and weaknesses; Boy or girl
should embrace himself or herself for who they really are and have confidence in what they do.
Before the video ends, they bring an older athletic woman she is chosen for her self-confidence.
The director shows ethos by asking the athletic woman what advice she had for young girls
viewing the video or going through that difficult time. All she says is Keep doing it because
youre doing it right I run and kick like a girl because I am a girl. This brings the video
together to show young girl they have the power to be self-confident. By showing someone who
is motivational, the ad emphasizes the word always by still including the name of the brand
together with other motivational words. The commercial seems to be a win-win, for everyone
and mostly for girls because of young women fighting the problem and yet having a reliable
product to help.
It is true many go on thinking of running, hitting or being like a girl means a negative
thing. What Always found to do was to target young women into seeing there is a problem with
way being a girl is thought. By doing so they offer to help the young women out by promoting
change and promoting their product as well. Letting those young girls believe they will Always
feel safe with the product by using rhetorical strategies like ethos, pathos, and logos. What the
companys ad campaign presents is not a negative kind of ad and it is safe to say it was a good
advertisement towards looking at a situation no one else seemed to care about. The fact is also
like a girl is viewed as unfair and has negative meaning. The company can truly open the
viewers eyes making them re-think their language. However, the true interest was to sell the
product but also involving the director and using a motivational speaker through in the video. It
was an easy way to grab the viewers attention and successfully sell their product better than any
other competing brands.

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Works Cited

ABC NEWS. Always: Like A Girl: Puberty in Girls. Self Confidence. Always.
YouTube. YouTube, 2 July 2014. Web 21 Oct. 2014

Always #LikeAGirl Goes Viral. Viral Video Charts: Weeks Top Brand-Driven Viral
Ads- Advertising Age. Advertising Age The Viral Video Chart RSS. Advertising Age, Web. 21
Oct. 2014.

Always #LikeaAGirl. YouTube. YouTube, 26 June 2014. Web. 21 Oct. 2014.

Always #LikeAGirl - Meet the Director, Lauren Greenfield. YouTube. YouTube, 9 July
2014. Web. 20 Oct. 2014

Ciambriello, Roo. Like a Girl Is No longer an insult in Inspiring Ad From P&Gs

Always. ADWeek. Leo Burnetts Chicago, London and Toronto Offices. 26 June 2014. Web. 20
Oct. 2014.