What should masculinity look like in Indian advertising?

There’s a simple trick to answer this question. If you want to know what kind of progress a society has made, look at its advertising. After all, it is our job to connect with society. And that’s mighty difficult if you aren’t reflecting on how society is feeling. Because we cannot take masculinity, mould it how we want, and portray that. Can we?

Masculinity, luckily today, is more dimensional than ever. Which gives us a lot more facets of masculinity to work with. Not that it was portrayed to be just one thing, but it’s good to have more sides of the diamond hitting the light. And more categories to show off this newfound masculinity. Because every category is bound to show off a side that suits them. Insurance, for example, it simply can’t show off the machismo of yesteryears. Especially when men are more prone to committing suicides than women. Here, masculinity is about being self-aware, reflective… real.

And I think that is how we will have to play it. Stick to the age-old definition of what makes a man, like how deodorant ads do it (let’s agree, this hasn’t changed since Axe started it decades ago). It is shallow and frivolous and dated and boring. Sure, some brands have made a mark with the advertising itself, but no one that I remember has tried to redefine masculinity.

Or change the definition completely whenever possible. Like Ariel did with Share the Load. Absolutely beautiful campaign that slapped the old definition in the face without a shred of remorse. Rightfully too. It featured an aged man reflecting on his mistakes as a father by not setting a good enough example for her. And set out to make that change. The timing and the execution of that thought was impeccable.

There are a few spaces where a man’s softer side has been historically more dominant, jewellery. Open conversations with their daughters, wives, mothers, and men have not shied away from shedding a tear, and neither have the advertisers shied away from showing that side of them. And it has made for advertising that is etched in our collective memories.

Not too many advertisers have touched upon one key facet of masculinity, however, that of pride. Of course, there have been campaigns of and for the LGBTQI+ community, like what TOI did with Out and Proud years ago. Or Close-up did. But that aspect of what men go through hasn’t been really touched upon in the larger scheme of things. Do you remember a campaign where the protagonist belonged to the community?

There are a lot of avenues us as advertisers can take. We’re always looking for ways of making an impact. Of selfishly creating work that gets remembered by society and at the same time aims to change it for the better. Masculinity with its ever-changing definition can be a great starting point.

So, coming back to the original question, what should masculinity look like in today’s advertising? Like it always did. Real. A reflection of society.

This article is penned by Tanuj Khanna, Content Lead, Wondrlab Network.

Disclaimer: The article features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the stance of the publication.