Pantene Philippines’ “Whip It” ad looks at gender double standards

In case you haven’t seen it yet, here’s the ad that everyone’s been talking about — the one that highlights how the same qualities in men and women at work get judged differently. It’s an ad for Pantene for the market in the Philippines, where yes, you’ll see ads in English (it’s one of the official languages):

The video’s name is Labels Against Women, and it’s been marked with the hashtag #WhipIt. The ad came out in November, and while it was aired only in the Philippines, it was also posted online where Facebook COO Cheryl “Lean In” Sandberg saw it, and linked to it in her Facebook feed. From there it — as we say in the industry — went viral:

The agency behind the ad, BBDO Guerrero, has teamed with the website Rappler to feature a series of articles called #WHIPIT that focuses on the issues that women face today, including the way they’re viewed in society and in the workplace. The first article, On self-labelling: women stereotypes or female archetypes? was published a few days ago, and it’s a worthwhile read.

If you’d like to see what happened at the “town hall” discussion covered by the Rappler article, here’s a video. The discussion appears to have been done in mostly English (I’ve skimmed it), but if some stray Tagalog words pop in, just ask and I’ll explain: