New Pantene commercial encourages women to stop saying sorry

Updated

#sorrynotsorry -- or rather #ShineStrong -- is a message Pantene is hoping women will embrace.

The new ad cleverly pieces together familiar situations in which women apologize in place of another specific phrase or expression, like 'excuse me' or 'good morning,' and then shows the same scenes without an apology.

With plenty of research to suggest that there is no discernible difference between the ways in which women and men absorb blame, critics are bound to question whether women should have been singled out for being overly apologetic.

Others may very likely agree with Linguist-of-the-sexes Deborah Tannen, who says many say 'I'm sorry' to 'express sympathy and concern,' and that 'treating others with empathy doesn't equal devaluing ourselves.'

Either way, the commercial does well in pointing out the wide use of the word in general, along with the unintended message constantly apologizing may unintentionally send.

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