You Hit Like a Girl? Always Maxi Pads Says That's Great

If you’ve ever heard the words, “You hit like a girl,” chances are they weren’t meant as a compliment. It’s time to flip that tired old phrase on its head, according to Procter & Gamble’s Always brand.

A new digital and social media campaign, backed by the feminine care product line and shot by an award-winning documentary filmmaker, wants to make #LikeAGirl “a phrase that represents the strength, talent, character and downright amazingness of every girl,” the brand says.

Under the tagline, “Rewrite the rules,” Always asks what you do #LikeAGirl and anticipates the answers will be proud and positive. “Join the movement,” the brand says, by sharing pictures and videos of proud grrrl moments via its Facebook page and Twitter feed.

The campaign, from ad agency Leo Burnett, centers on a video from Lauren Greenfield (Queen of Versailles) that asks girls and young women what it means to do something “like a girl.” Their responses, which vary by age group, provide the gut-check that shows the brand is on the right track in pushing for some recalibrated thinking.

The effort, which Always has dubbed a social experiment, comes at a time when many advertisers and groups have latched onto female empowerment themes. Sheryl Sandberg’s #BanBossy effort with the Girl Scouts and Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice has been trying to stamp out the use of that passive-aggressive word, while Pantene, GoldieBlox, Nike and United Nations Women are among those that have joined pioneer Dove in boosting women’s esteem.

Research commissioned by Always showed that more than half of girls experience a drop in confidence around puberty and that most consider “like a girl” to be an insult. The vast majority of girls have a negative association with “like a girl.”

Using that label can be “a hard knock against any adolescent girl. And since the rest of puberty's really no picnic either, it's easy to see what a huge impact it can have on a girl's self-confidence,” the brand’s YouTube statement says.

The work is a brand builder for Always, which isn’t specifically advertising any product around the video. Early indications are that it seems to have struck a chord.

The Facebook page, with more than 400,000 likes so far, has logged comments like, “I can't explain how much I love to see big companies taking advantage of their platform. I still remember my confidence and self worth dramatically plummeting at a certain age...What if girls could physically grow up without their self worth descending into abyss?” And a “dad of two girls” said, “Your video is inspiring and amazing and I hope everyone in the world gets a chance to see it.