Fret not, ‘cause the saviour is here!
By Kavita
Source: screenshot from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6R-MNqdOiqc&ab_channel=licmerchant
It’s the 21st century. Women are breaking glass ceilings everywhere. So much so that this year they’ve been allowed permanent commission in the Indian Armed forces, a predominantly male domain. Social media is replete with heartwarming accounts of women entrepreneurs, turning their strengths and talents into money making ventures. Of women multitasking, handling the boardroom and kitchen with equal panache.
And guess who remains unaffected by the massive strides women are taking in all walks of life? LIC of India. Somehow, they remain unimpressed by the progress women have made. Ignorant of families where women are equal contributors and decision makers in the family’s finances. One just has to take a look at their ad campaigns to notice the level of apathy.
Case in point this ad from 2013.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6R-MNqdOiqc&ab_channel=licmerchant)
Let me describe it for you. The ad is about an old man and his son. Early on in the ad it is established that it’s a family of these two, and that the father has a problem with his eyeglasses: they’re old and he can’t see clearly through them.
The ad opens with the father talking lovingly about his responsible, empathetic son. He describes him as someone who at a young age has taken upon himself to educate people (read ‘men’) about ensuring financial security for their loved ones, because, well...life is uncertain and if men, when they’re young, don’t take care of these essential issues, how will older parents, widowed wives be looked after in their absence?
As the ad progresses one realises that the son is an LIC agent. He has an unenviable job of convincing people the value of buying life insurance policies. He faces rejection, is avoided but carries on, relentlessly until he proves his point when a widow gets a second lease of life because of the policy her husband had thoughtfully provided for her.
Simple ad. Heartwarming. Three cheers to the son. Bless him! Our “Advisor of the Year”
Then what’s the issue here?....you may ask! And you’re justified.
The issue is about the subtleties. About the silent messages that the ad sends to the general public where it gets reinforced until it becomes a mindset.
And what are these subtle messages? Quite a few!
Have you ever seen an ad where the agent is a woman? An ad where the policy is bought by a woman? Can't remember, right?
Look at this ad closely and you’ll find that the women were mostly in the background and the ones who were prominent were shown as helpless, vulnerable creatures unable to take care of themselves or their loved ones.
To prove this, sometime during the ad two women are shown mourning, crying helplessly next to a dead relative as the voice-over declares “log jaankar bhi anjaan bante hain, par uska kaam hai unko sochne par majboor karna, unki zarooraton ko samajhna” (people pretend to be ignorant. But his job is to make them think. To understand their needs) - seriously? Is it a coincidence that the visual shows women when this admonishment is read out?
There are other scenes too when women make an appearance. As a submissive wife who wouldn’t know better than to lie on behalf of her husband, another one in the kitchen (default backdrop!), others as part of the crowd in an office- but mind you, even in the office setting they’re not shown as the ones the son has approached in the past or is planning to approach, and finally a widow with her young child.
The ad chooses her case as exemplary, a worried widow who gives a sigh of relief when she receives the policy amount her husband had left for her and their child. Relief- as she ruffles her child’s hair- because LIC knew that she just couldn’t have managed on her own and the policy left by the husband was her survival kit and the thin rope she must hold on to stay afloat.
The ad ends with the son replacing his dad’s eyeglasses with brand new ones.There’s no wife, no mother, no daughter, no daughter-in-law on the horizon. No one who could’ve taken care of the man, except for his already-burdened-with-work-and-rejection son.
The review of the ad may sound bitter, it may sound overly critical and indicate a thought process that’s hell bent on finding mistakes and gaps where there are none.
Sure, on the surface it’s all sweet and innocent….like the child in the last scene, who at an impressionable age is forming opinions that’ll last a lifetime. But like this child, who is witness to the fact that it was his dad and not his mom who made survival possible, the unassuming audience walks away with a memory- familiar, a message- subtle and a thought- that’ll soon take root and manifest itself as a behaviour- that it’s the man who is the saviour! The man who can put things right. Not a woman. Never a woman.
Thank you LIC. You made your point!
But how about making amends now!? How about changing the narrative?
I’m sure you’ve women in your workforce handling varied roles efficiently, how about bringing them to the limelight? How about showcasing women LIC agents, how about showing households where men and women- husband and wife, or a young daughter or the daughter-in law are involved in financial matters. How about an ad where the married woman of the house buys the policy for her parents? Infact, how about projecting that buying life insurance is a collective decision, that it shouldn’t just be a man taking a decision on behalf of all the family members? How about showing him seeking advice from all the adults in the family- irrespective of their gender?
“How about reinforcing that the woman of the house is not only the home minister as she is jokingly labeled in countless conversations (with a broom in hand!) but a qualified finance minister as well!??”
By Kavita
She is a Pune based freelance educational content writer. Through her work she lives her passion of providing quality education to children who find it difficult to access it. A quote nerd, a travel enthusiast, a ghazal and sufi music lover, a self confessed foodie and a die hard optimist, the only thing she abhors is fakeness in any form.
