Ads of the Week: Women Power Spots from Netflix & John Hancock

I don't know if this is just a good week for women in ads or if it's an indication that female empowerment has come into it's own. But as I searched for my Ad of the Week, I found two good ads based around the same theme.

The #SheRules spot Netflix ran during last Sunday's Emmys has received a lot of praise – given the high profile of where the spot ran (and, let's face it, the high quality of the shows featuring strong women produced by Netflix).It's basically cuts of scenes from Netflix shows with a voiceover talking about how the different women in each series rules their world in their own way. Yes, it's a lot of quality source material, but it's woven together well.

Netflix – #SheRules

The second spot, "CEO" - part of John Hancock's Different World campaign, has not gotten as much public praise, but handles the issue quite deftly. We open up on a pan down a line of CEO portraits in a long, ornate corporate hallway. They are all of old white guys. Then the camera shifts focus to a confident Hispanic woman striding down the hallway past them. As she passes the last portrait, it's of her. John Hancock makes the point that times are changing and they're changing with it – to meet your needs in this different world we live in. It's a much more understated and subtle spot than Netflix, but that's a reflection of the two different types of companies they are. Each represents it's own brand personality well.

John Hancock – CEO