Ariel India’s latest detergent ad is going viral.

“I’m so proud of you,” the woman’s dad says as he remembers her playing house as a child.

“And I’m so sorry,” he adds.

He goes on to tell his daughter that he wishes he would’ve set a better example of gender equality in the house, and that he realizes that because his daughter never saw him doing household chores, she absorbed the belief that she had to do them all herself as well.

The two-minute commercial ends with the father going home to help his astonished wife with the laundry, while his daughter finally sits down to read the letter he’s been narrating during the commercial.

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg gave high praise to the creators of the commercial, posting it on her Facebook page with the message,

“This is one of the most powerful videos I have ever seen—showing how stereotypes hurt all of us and are passed from generation to generation. When little girls and boys play house they model their parents’ behavior; this doesn’t just impact their childhood games, it shapes their long-term dreams.”

Apart from the touching acknowledgement that gender stereotypes trickle—or gush—through families, is a more subtle call to think about how our children see us living our lives. Do they see us making time for fun and rest? Or do our lives appear to be an endless loop of work and chores? It also brings to mind the ongoing discussion about how just because women can now “have it all”—does that mean we have to do it all, too?

Ariel’s Share the Load campaign earned them a Glass Lion Award at the 2015 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

Author: Lynn Shattuck

Editor: Catherine Monkman

Photo: Pexels. Youtube