Ariel: #ShareTheLoad for Equal Sleep

Over the last 5 years, Ariel India has continuously sparked conversations around the unequal division of domestic chores within households and urging more and more men to #ShareTheLoad. #ShareTheLoad is not a regular campaign, but a movement for social change. In the spirit of keeping this conversation going and furthering the cause of equality within households, Ariel launched the 4th chapter of ShareTheLoad.
Agency: BBDO, India

A survey conducted by an independent 3rd party revealed a startling and uncomfortable truth – 71*% women in India sleep less than their husbands due of household chores. Taking the conversation further from where we left last year, Ariel realized that the impact of men not sharing the load is far deeper and stronger. Uneven division of household chores like laundry is coming in the way of women getting enough sleep and rest. In fact, in many households, women are the first to wake up and last to sleep. This time, the conversation is about these unaccounted hours of early mornings and late nights, which are usually spent in wrapping up the chores she couldn’t complete during the day! When men don’t share the load, what ends up getting impacted is a basic and everyday phenomenon – sleep! Lack of sleep is thus almost an indicator, of the inequality within the household. The new film, launched across social media and digital platforms, seeks to highlight the impact of unequal division of chores on their wife’s well-being, and leverage this with men to drive an urgency to act. Over the last 5 years, Ariel has been able to impact the thought process for millions of men. From 79**% men in 2014 who thought laundry was only a woman’s job, the number has steadily declined, being 41*% in 2019. However, even today, only 35*% men contribute daily towards household chores. Ariel has taken the onus to set the bar higher in 2020. In a survey, most men agree that washing clothes in a machine are the easiest chore for them to start taking over. Thus, Ariel aims to make laundry the face of this movement against inequality within households by urging men to take the first step to #ShareTheLaundry and eventually, #ShareTheLoad for equal sleep. After all, with Ariel anyone can get an outstanding clean, no matter who does the laundry! The film, conceptualised by BBDO, is depicted from the eyes of a little girl devoid of any conditioning, who notices her mom is missing at night while she is asleep and continues to notice her running around doing multiple things, tired and sleepy. The father’s moment of realization is also in a way, driven by the daughter missing her mom at night.