The Truth Behind the 'Ladyball' Digital Marketing Campaign
In last weekend's 'The Rest from the Nest' feature, our weekly roundup of all the little stories we couldn't cover in full, I mentioned the 'Ladyball'. This baffling product was accompanied by one of the most bizarre and controversial marketing campaigns in recent memory. Now it turns out, as many previously speculated, that all the controversy was intentionally engineered to promote a larger cause.
The spoof Ladyball product was basically just a bright pink football, but the marketing campaign, which included phrases such as "Soft-touch for a woman's grip, eazi-play for a woman's
ability and fashion-driven for a woman's style", did an excellent job of highlighting the awful and derogatory comments aimed at serious female athletes on a daily basis.
Before we continue, watch the original Ladyball ad below:
Despite the arguably obvious hints that the product isn't genuine, many social media users failed to pick up on that detail. This led to swarms of irate posts that served exactly the purpose intended by the people behind the campaign, by drawing attention to the shallow and degrading perception of female athletes demonstrated online, who are often judged more for their psychical appearance than their sporting merit.
So who exactly is responsible for the campaign? And what is their aim here? The answer to those questions was provided via YouTube on the 15th of January, as the LGFA (Ladies' Gaelic Football Association) posted a video confirming not only their part in the campaign, but also their partnership with Lidl. Between them, the two organisations hope to challenge widespread misconceptions about Women's football and females in sport in general as they "put the spotlight on women in sport in Ireland and raise awareness of the difficulties female sports persons have in getting the same recognition as their male counterparts".
The combined efforts of Lidl and the LGFA are certainly laudable, and will hopefully mark the start of an era of change where female sporting accomplishments are concerned. For too long these incredible athletes have been unfairly viewed as somehow inferior, based purely on their gender. It's nice to see the world waking up to that fact and trying to do something about it.
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Before we continue, watch the original Ladyball ad below:
Despite the arguably obvious hints that the product isn't genuine, many social media users failed to pick up on that detail. This led to swarms of irate posts that served exactly the purpose intended by the people behind the campaign, by drawing attention to the shallow and degrading perception of female athletes demonstrated online, who are often judged more for their psychical appearance than their sporting merit.
So who exactly is responsible for the campaign? And what is their aim here? The answer to those questions was provided via YouTube on the 15th of January, as the LGFA (Ladies' Gaelic Football Association) posted a video confirming not only their part in the campaign, but also their partnership with Lidl. Between them, the two organisations hope to challenge widespread misconceptions about Women's football and females in sport in general as they "put the spotlight on women in sport in Ireland and raise awareness of the difficulties female sports persons have in getting the same recognition as their male counterparts".
The combined efforts of Lidl and the LGFA are certainly laudable, and will hopefully mark the start of an era of change where female sporting accomplishments are concerned. For too long these incredible athletes have been unfairly viewed as somehow inferior, based purely on their gender. It's nice to see the world waking up to that fact and trying to do something about it.
Sam
is an aspiring novelist with a passion for fantasy and crime thrillers.
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The Truth Behind the 'Ladyball' Digital Marketing Campaign
Reviewed by Unknown
on
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Rating:
Reviewed by Unknown
on
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Rating:
Unknown
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