In what ways does “Whisper’s” #LikeAGirl China Ad Campaign use a form of cause marketing to reach its target audience?

The advert is set in a rural village in China, focusing on the left-behind girls who are starting to experience menstruation. The mothers of these girls go on to work in urban locales to make a living. This is an actual contemporary phenomenon that has been written about in Chinese mainstream culture. The absence of mother figures as they come into the age of puberty leave them unaware of the changes that their bodies would undergo, thus fearful of the implications of their periods. 

Taboos exist in every culture and China is no stranger to the stigmatisation of periods. When giving their personal accounts, these girls thought that they were at fault, afraid of dying, and felt like they could not tell their relatives. The ad uses extreme close up shots, highly focused on the facial features of the girls with a blurry background. The music is soft, almost imperceptible,  making the girls’ voices the primary diegetic sound in this scene. Together, they evoke a trapped and claustrophobic atmosphere at the beginning of the ad. All of their expressions are easily perceivable, drawing you in with the sincerity of their emotions.

Their vulnerability is authentic. When asked about who they wanted to be with when first experiencing their periods, they all said one word: “Mama”. In Chinese culture, a lot of emphasis is placed on the value of being family-oriented. To leave your family is almost unnatural, but for this generation of working women, they do so out of necessity. Despite the distance, these mothers manage to keep the link between themselves and their daughters alive through various means of communication. While email, instant online messaging, texting, calling, or video chatting are more popular mediums, it may not be available to families from more rural communities.  

The act of writing letters is a dying art in this day and age, however, it encapsulates the love that these mothers hold for their daughters, that even though they may be far away from them, the girls could have something tangible to hold on to. The scene is made even more emotive at this point as a female non-diegetic voice narrates the entire letter. She is representative of all working mothers who wish to assure their daughters that it is a natural part of growing. The camera shots alternate between the girls’  reactions whilst reading their letters and the mothers who are writing them. It creates a play-by-play of a private interaction between mother and daughter. 

When Whisper swoops in with their product, they provide protection for these girls. More importantly, they are empowering them through the accessibility of female hygiene products and the knowledge which they, quite literally, hold in their hands. Towards the end of the advert, the music swells to a crescendo, heavily textured with different instruments such as drums which resonate with the now hopeful and inspirational mood. The girls are united by a commonality, they are not alone in this. There are shots of them playing, jumping, doing various active movements. These are taken at a low-angle with an abundance of sunlight, giving the illusion that the girls are taller, larger than life because they are. 

Whisper juxtaposes compositional elements namely, their clever sound design and award-worthy cinematography, together with the relevant and attention-grabbing narrative to vouch for a cause they believe in and want to share with their target audience. Viewers would be left feeling empathetic even if they do not personally experience any of the hardships displayed in the advert because they feel the human connection was made evident by Whisper. 

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