Kim Gehrig is an Australian

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

whose body of work spans commercials, music videos, documentaries, short films and branded entertainment. Her notable commercial works include the This Girl Can campaign, the

John Lewis Christmas advert The John Lewis Christmas advert is an ongoing television advertising campaign released by British department store chain John Lewis & Partners in the build-up to Christmas. John Lewis & Partners launched their first Christmas advert in 2007. It ...

in 2015, Stepping for

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a producti ...

, Gillette's ' The Best Men Can Be' and many more for brands including IKEA, GAP, Amnesty International and

Libresse Libresse is a brand of Essity, specializing in products for period and daily intimate care. Libresse is a global brand, operating under a number of different names in local markets - Bodyform, Nana, Nuvenia, Saba, Nosotras, Libresse, Libra. Essity ...

. In music videos Kim has collaborated with artists such as Chaka Khan,

Wiley Wiley may refer to: Locations * Wiley, Colorado, a U.S. town * Wiley, Pleasants County, West Virginia, U.S. * Wiley-Kaserne, a district of the city of Neu-Ulm, Germany People * Wiley (musician), British grime MC, rapper, and producer * Wiley Mil ...

, Calvin Harris and Basement Jaxx. Her work has won numerous awards including a UK Music Video Award and a Glass Lion at the

Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (formerly the International Advertising Festival) is a global event for those working in creative communications, advertising, and related fields. It is considered the largest gathering of the ...

Career

Gehrig was born in Sydney, Australia, and moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

to study at

Central Saint Martins Central Saint Martins is a public tertiary art school in London, England. It is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It offers full-time courses at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and a variety of shor ...

, University of the Arts London. The first eight years of her career were spent as a Creative at advertising agency Mother. One of her first major works as a director was the 'You are Powerful' video for Amnesty International, released on the 60th anniversary of the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, ...

. For this she won a Silver Lion at

2010 and a broadcast award by the Young Director Awards. In a collaboration with Australian musician Kirin J. Callinan, Gehrig directed a video challenging

toxic masculinity Toxic masculinity is a set of certain male behaviors associated with harm to society and men themselves. Traditional stereotypes of men as socially dominant, along with related traits such as misogyny and homophobia, can be considered "toxic" d ...

and pressure for men to look like bodybuilders in Australia, overlaid with Callinan covering Divine's '

You Think You're a Man "You Think You're a Man" is a single by American performance artist Divine, released in 1984. The song also appeared on the compilation album ''The Story So Far'', released the same year. It was written by Geoff Deane, formerly the lead singer an ...

'. Gehrig works for Somesuch advertising productions, who were awarded

Advertising Age ''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in m ...

's 2018 Production Company of the Year for their work in promoting

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, Equal opportunity, opportunities, and Social privilege, privileges within a society. In Western Civilization, Western and Culture of Asia, Asian cultures, the concept of social ...

through advertising.

This Girl Can (Sport England)

Gehrig directed the multi award-winning advert for the This Girl Can campaign by

Sport England Sport England is a non-departmental public body under the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Its role is to build the foundations of a community sport system by working with national governing bodies of sport, and other funded par ...

to encourage more women to take part in sport. The video features personal and unfiltered clips of women exercising as they would be normally. The advert was praised for its bold and empowering message, winning awards including a Glass Lion for Good at Cannes Lions 2015. Sport England estimated that an additional 2.8 million women decided to take up a sport after the advert's release. The first advert was followed by 'Phenomenal Women', showcasing women from all walks of life engaging in sport set to Maya Angelou's recital of ''Phenomenal Woman''. Gehrig stated in 2018 that 'This Girl Can' is the video she is most proud of.

Man on The Moon (John Lewis)

Later in 2015 Gehrig premiered the first

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

Christmas advert to be directed by a woman; 'Man on The Moon'. The advert constituted part of John Lewis' partnership with

Age UK Age UK is a registered charity in the United Kingdom, formed on 25 February 2009, and launched on 1 April 2009, which combined the operations of the previously separate charities Age Concern England and Help the Aged to form the UK's largest ch ...

to raise awareness of

loneliness Loneliness is an unpleasant emotional response to perceived isolation. Loneliness is also described as social paina psychological mechanism which motivates individuals to seek social connections. It is often associated with a perceived lack ...

in the elderly, showing a lonely old man living on the moon being sent a gift by a young girl on earth. The video was set to a cover of Oasis' '''Half the World Away''' by Aurora.

Viva la Vulva (Libresse)

Gehrig directed the award-winning 'Viva la Vulva' advert for

, a celebration of the

vagina In mammals, the vagina is the elastic, muscular part of the female genital tract. In humans, it extends from the vestibule to the cervix. The outer vaginal opening is normally partly covered by a thin layer of mucosal tissue called the hymen ...

and women body confidence. The video contains many items from normal life which resemble vaginas as well as puppetry and outfits resembling genitalia. It was set to the music of

Camille Yarbrough Camille Yarbrough (born January 8, 1938) is an American musician, dancer, actress, poet, activist, television producer, and author. She is best known for the song "Take Yo' Praise", which Fatboy Slim sampled in his 1998 track "Praise You". "Ta ...

's Take Yo' Praise'.''.

The Best Men Can Be (Gillette)

Gehrig again rose to prominence in 2019 for ' The Best Men Can Be' advertising video by razor company Gillette, which challenges its earlier tagline of "The Best a Man Can Get" and the effects of

. The advert was praised by some for its message against the traditional concepts of how men should be, and how this impacts

mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental hea ...

as well as women. However, the advert was criticised by others for its negative portrayal of men. Multiple commentators, such as

Piers Morgan Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (; né O'Meara; born 30 March 1965) is a British broadcaster, journalist, writer, and television personality. He began his Fleet Street career in 1988 at ''The Sun (United Kingdom), The Sun''. In 1994, aged 29, he was ...

, were incensed by the campaign and vowed to boycott the company. ''

Marketing Week ''Marketing Week'' is a website focused on the marketing industry, based in London, that grew out of what was a weekly, and latterly monthly, print magazine. History and profile ''Marketing Week'' was launched in March 1978. Its co-founders were ...

'' saw the backlash towards the ad as backfiring on Gillete following declining sales metrics for the brand. Gehrig responded to some of the criticism by saying: "The project had actually been conceived, written and edited by men. But because I'm a female director, it fitted neatly into a troll's narrative."

Music Videos

Gehrig has directed numerous music videos in addition to her advertising work. She won 'Best Urban Music Video' at the 2009

UK Music Video Awards The UK Music Video Awards is an annual celebration of creativity, technical excellence and innovation in music video and moving image for music. The awards began in 2008. There is a wide range of opportunities for UK individuals and companies to ...

for Wiley 's '''Cash in My Pocket''', and was nominated in 2018 for her music video for Chaka Khan's '''Like Suga.

Personal life

Gehrig has two daughters, and currently lives in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Awards

*2008 Thinkbox October award for 'You are Powerful' (Amnesty International). *2009 Best Urban Video for Wiley's 'Cash in My Pocket' at the

. *2010 Broadcast Award by Young Director Awards for 'You are Powerful' (Amnesty International). *2010 Silver Lion by Cannes Lions for 'You are Powerful' (Amnesty International) *2015 Top director of the year by

Campaign Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * Bl ...

. * 2015 Most creative people of the year by

Fast Company ''Fast Company'' is a monthly American business magazine published in print and online that focuses on technology, business, and design. It publishes six print issues per year. History ''Fast Company'' was launched in November 1995 by Alan Web ...

. * 2015 Grand Prix at the Glass Lion for Good Awards Cannes Lions for 'This Girl Can' by Sport England. *2015 Twelve total awards, including Gold for Best Direction - Single at

Creative Circle The Creative Circle (also known as The Advertising Creative Circle and The Advertising Creative Circle of Great Britain) is an educational awards body dedicated to creativity in British advertising, and the oldest advertising and marketing awards ...

for 'This Girl Can' by Sport England. *2016 Three silver British Arrows for 'This Girl Can' by Sport England. *2016 Graphite and White

D&ad Design and Art Direction (D&AD), formerly known as British Design and Art Direction, is a British educational organisation that was created in 1962 to promote excellence in design and advertising. Its main offices are in Spitalfields in London. I ...

Pencils for 'This Girl Can' by Sport England. *2016 Two silver and one bronze British Arrow for 'Man on the Moon' by John Lewis. *2017 Wood D&ad Pencil for 'This Girl Can: Phenomenal Women' by Sport England. * 2018 Most creative advertising campaign of the year by

for 'Viva la Vulva' by

. * 2018 Advert of the year by

Creative Review ''Creative Review'' is a bimonthly print magazine and website. The magazine focuses on commercial creativity, covering design, advertising, photography, branding, digital products, film, and gaming. The magazine is published bimonthly in print and ...

for 'Viva la Vulva' by Libresse. *2019 Black D&AD Pencil for 'Viva La Vulva' by Libresse.

References

External links

Kim Gehrig's personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gehrig, Kim Australian directors Advertising in Australia Alumni of the University of the Arts London Alumni of Central Saint Martins Living people Year of birth missing (living people)