Auto Ads: Why should boys have all the fun?

Imagine watching an ad for an SUV brand. It starts with the whirring of an engine, the car treading through the bumpy rifts of a picturesque valley in Himachal; captured beautifully through a drone shot. A cool SUV with a sun roof, an immersive audio setup, intuitive temperature control—the features start to get more pronounced. Every other paraphernalia to make the driver look ‘cool and free-spirited’ gradually makes its way into the frame. The SUV accelerates and ends up in the middle of nowhere leaving behind a cloud of dust. On a closer look, a woman gets off from the driver’s seat and delivers the brand’s message talking to the adventure-seeker and the tough roadster in you. Anything amiss here? Most of us can hardly recollect the last time we watched an ad by a mainstream car manufacturer that had a woman as the lead. This points to a fundamental gap in the industry’s messaging that often tends to exclude a growing chunk of its buyers—women.  According to industry data, women account for 10 -12% of the passenger vehicle market in India. “In fact, this number can be considered to be much higher because they play a large role in