Moms can save advertising

By Harshada Menon, Group Creative Director, DDB Mudra

Image credit: Unsplash.com

She’s dedicated, loving, sacrificial and always happy. Her home’s spotless. Her kids, well-behaved. She works a job, exercises, pursues hobbies and of course, cares for her family. All, with a smile plastered on her face.

The perfect mom in advertising. I always knew she was a myth. But when I became one, I was certain.

If advertising reflects real life, why are moms in advertising from imagine land? I’m a mom. And I am nothing like any of them. Always swamped with work, I don’t cook or clean. I shamelessly bribe my daughter with screen time for some me-time. I almost never find the time or the will to exercise. I binge on crime and drama. And I always, always wish I were that couple on Instagram, holidaying at uber luxurious destinations without their children. In fact, as I type this, there’s a suitcase lying on the floor for 10 days that needs desperate unpacking.

Isn’t that the real mom of today? Why don’t we ever see her in our ads?

Well, here’s why. Most of our ads are still being manideated, manapproved, and mancreated CDs and CCOs who are, well, MEN. Fun fact — mothers buy over 80% of the products we advertise. And yet, none of the advertisements we make for those products, show her or talk to her. Some male CD from a ‘Mad-Men’- ish era conjured up the ‘perfect mom’ caricature. Another male CD, in 2022, is still regurgitating that caricature, ad after ad, product after product.

THIS HAS TO STOP.

And the only, only way to do it, is to have more moms in our boardrooms.

Why are we letting women quit advertising after they become mothers?

Why aren’t we nurturing a guilt-free workspace?

Why aren’t we offering flexi-timings and work from home options?

Why aren’t we building on-site child-care facilities or encouraging networking groups for working mothers?

Why aren’t we doing every goddamn thing in our power to keep our mothers from quitting advertising?

It’s not just bad for our industry, it’s also bad for the business.

And for those who think women lose their creative edge post motherhood, do your homework. Do it well. Enough studies prove that motherhood is probably the most creative phase in a woman’s life. A complete rewiring of her brain allows cognitive, emotional, and behavioral flexibility, making her inventive, dauntless, empathetic, and resourceful. In other words, a complete out of box thinker. And a terrific leader.

How does keeping her out of our industry make any creative or business sense?

The truth is, we’ve lost our creative edge for a while now. Maybe it’s the mothers who can help us find it. And in turn, save the industry.