Ariel is the most expensive detergent in India. The problem it was facing was loss of emotional equity and relevance.

The client brief was clear – engage our consumers around Ariel’s promise of ‘best stain removal in one wash so that anyone can do laundry’ to make the brand more relevant.

Here we unearthed an interesting statistic: ‘87% of Indian men believe laundry is a woman's job’. Analysis pointed us to an inequality embedded culturally in each and every Indian home… where women can be equal contributors to the family income, but the burden of household chores still lies on their shoulders.

Ariel decided to stand up for women’s equality at home with #ShareTheLoad – a provocative social movement that exposed the inequality embedded culturally in each and every Indian home.

Supported with strategically developed branded content, celebrity endorsements, activations across key touch points, partnerships with clothing brands and the launch of a special addition Ariel ‘His and Her’ pack, ‘Share the Load’ created a national conversation that helped the brand become more relevant while helping create a shift in the mind-set of men across the country with respect to equality at home.

There are no regulations on the media and restrictions on political freedoms or civil liberties which are relevant to the campaign. With this movement, we were fighting the the gender inequality embedded culturally in each and every Indian home where the job and duty of a woman, before or after a tiring day at work, is to take care of household chores while a man’s job is to sit back and relax.

The Ariel #ShareTheLoad wash care label immediately grabbed the attention of people and media.

• Leading clothing brands, manufacturers, retailers and designers embraced the label.

• Influential Indians came out in support of the new wash care label and the message of equality at home behind it.

• Not just that, it grabbed the attention of the media and people on social media.

• Unaided Brand Awareness increased by 132% within the first month.

• The campaign generated free-media worth USD 9.5 million

• Millions of men pledged to ‘Share the Load’ across the country

• On Facebook, engagement-rate went up a record 225%.

• On Twitter #ShareTheLoad trended nationally with over 8 million impressions.

• Sales went up by 60%.

Advertising and Bollywood, both have picked up on the new Indian-woman; a woman who is stepping forward outside the bounds of her home; a woman walking shoulder to shoulder with men; a woman boldly achieving her goals and dreams.

But while this may be so, they also reflect the cultural and social norms at homes across the country that make it the duty of every woman, working or non-working, to take care of household chores. This stereotypical representation of women in advertising and Bollywood films reflects the gender inequality embedded culturally in each and every Indian home.

Here is where Ariel’s campaign #ShareTheLoad is significant for 3 reasons:

1. It challenges the stereotypical representation of women as the tireless-worker.

One who works has two jobs; working outside the home while also tirelessly fulfilling her duty at home by taking care of all the household-chores.

2. It challenges the notion that household work, today, when women are increasingly contributing equally to household incomes, is only a woman’s job.

3. It raises the issue of gender inequality at home, but at the same time provides a solution through the product and the idea that involves the men in the household with #ShareTheLoad.

Ariel as a brand stands for success in laundry. Through the power of its ‘best stain-removal in one wash so that anyone can do laundry’ promise it delivers stain-free laundry that makes for a presentable and happy household.

While this may be so, we discovered an inequality that didn’t make for a very happy household. Research and analysis pointed us to the fact that while Indian women are increasingly contributing equally to the family income, the burden of household chores still lies on them. As many as 87% of Indian-men believe laundry is a woman’s job. What all of this pointed to was the gender inequality embedded culturally in each and every Indian home where the job of a woman, before or after a tiring day at work, is to take care of household chores while a man’s job is to sit back and relax.

In challenging this inequality at home for women, we believed Ariel would find a deeper relevance while helping shift the mind-set of men across the country.

Thus was born #ShareTheLoad – a social movement that sparked off conversations across homes and media about gender inequality at home.

We kicked off the movement with an ad that asked an important question – ‘why is laundry a woman’s job?’ This provocative message sparked a national conversation. We immediately saw influential Indians step forward to spread the message. In response, Ariel launched the 'His and Her' pack – the first in the world. In addition to that, an unexplored everyday medium – clothing labels – were turned into advocates for gender equality. The biggest clothing brands and designers embraced it. In a landmark move, Ariel tied up with matrimonial websites where marriages are arranged. Here the willingness to share the load was made mandatory in the matchmaking profiles.