In India, as in many places, the barbershop has traditionally been a men’s club, a cultural institution within its community. It is run by men, for men. But when one owner in rural India fell sick, he had no sons to step in and take over the business that had been in his family for two previous generations. Two of his daughters disguised themselves as young men and began cutting hair and shaving beards.
When Omkar Bhat, brand director of Gillette India, got word of these two brave women and the other women they inspired, he was compelled to create an ad campaign that showed how bias is learned, not innate. The campaign tells the story of a young boy who discovers that women can shave as well as men, changing his understanding of gender roles in turn.
