Girl Empowerment Ads Like GoldieBlox: Do They work?

Originally published on CNN.com

By Kelly Wallace

There are plenty of times when I literally wish I could take a hammer to the portrayal of girls and women in the media. In a new ad, a little girl gets to do just that.

The ad is by the provocative toy maker GoldieBlox, which captured national attention last year when its ad encouraging girls to "disrupt the pink aisle" and become inventors went viral and led to a Super Bowl commercial.

In this newest ad, a girl, armed with a hammer, breaks rank from the other girls, who are dressed in pink, wearing high heels and picking up Barbie dolls, and silences a machine showcasing a robotic "1984"-like figure who is repeating, "You are beauty and beauty is perfection."...

More and more women do seem to be demanding that companies showcase an authentic view of girls and women in their advertisements, and are rewarding those companies that do.

The bottom line is no doubt one motivator for corporations in getting behind gender empowerment ads. Tackling issues such as the continued disparity between men and women in certain fields such as science, technology, math and engineering is another.

Verizon recently launched an ad called "Inspire Her Mind," designed to send a message to parents about encouraging girls to pursue careers in traditionally male-dominated fields and compete for the higher-paid tech jobs in the future.

"Corporate engagement isn't optional when it comes to solving pressing social issues," said Rose Kirk, president of the Verizon Foundation and vice president of global corporate citizenship at Verizon.

"We are missing a big opportunity and failing these girls if we don't find creative ways to close the gender gap quickly."