GoldieBlox has definedits advertisingwith feminist messages, so it makes sense that the brand would launch its new action figure, Ruby Rails, with an ad that rails against sexism in Hollywood.
The 90-second spot, created in-house, reimagines everyone's favorite movie heroes—the Indiana Jones, Rockys and Gladiators who have valiantly grunted across our cinema and television screens—as Ruby Rails and GoldieBlox (who are actual dolls you can buy).
The ad's mission is simple—by showing that women and girls make perfect sense in the roles reserved for male heroes, the toy brand is hoping to encourage change. Whether or not that will work is another question.
Of course, it would be easy to try and dismiss this problem. There's Jennifer Lawrence's Hunger Games franchise; the female Ghostbusters remake; heck, even a gender-flipped Oceans Eleven in the works.
But the numbers GoldieBlox cites don't lie: Just 12 percent of protagonists in major Hollywood films are women; male speaking characters outnumber female speaking characters three to one; only 1 percent of the top 500 films of all time star women of color; and so on. It's bleak.
And while it might seem like GoldieBlox is late to the party—Hollywood's sexism is so blatant that even the FBI is looking into it—tackling sexism has been part of the brand's mission from the get-go. So why not address it in entertainment?
CREDITS
Director/Editor: Steve Flavin
Animator: Thalia Fry
Producer: Beau Lewis
Writers: Debbie Sterling, Beau Lewis, Steve Flavin, Christine Zalocha
