Ariel’s prize-killing, culture-rocking campaign to nudge Indian men to “share the load” of household chores with their partners burst into global culture via social media. For western audiences, the campaign gained traction when luminaries such as Facebook’s COO, Sheryl Sandberg, re-posted the flagship TV spot.
The message resonated far beyond India, winning a Glass Lion at Cannes in 2015, an award recognising conspicuous and frank depictions of gender dynamics in advertising. In 2017, the campaign’s continued effectiveness won it a gold in the Creative Effectiveness category, two years after release. The campaign, it turns out, has not weathered but become...