missing girls/women in television advertising

There it is. Just infornt on the TV set. Boys running. For the promotional ad of Airtel Half Marathon. I see a boy leading a few, and another and one more and one more and yet another. And then a long shot of a huge group of runners in the narrow streets of India. The catchline of the ad says...'bachpan me khushi thi har baat pe daurne ki...ao daurein'...

The call seems to be for a good cause...whatever it be, but what is disturbing is the missing girl who is seen just as a part of the crowd and in the background. As if bachpan or childhood is all about boys. When will this mindset change?

Not that this is the only ad with such a lopsided representation...but I think I must react atleast on this blog so hoping that it finds its way to the admakers and the promoters of the halfmarathon. Not sure if it will.

But what is important is to react. And so this post.