Think of a TV commercial that has made an impact in the last few years and there’s a reasonably good chance that the director behind it will have been Kim Gehrig. From Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign to Libresse’s delightful Viva La Vulva – which featured a chorus of animated singing vaginas – along with the controversial spot The Best A Man Can Be for Gillette, Gehrig has become the go-to director if you want to make a stand-out ad.

This is no mean feat. Advertising today is in a pretty lacklustre place, and ads that get us smiling, lol-ing, and talking (or in the case of Gillette, yelling and stamping our feet on social media) are not in ready supply. So for Gehrig to have delivered so many, in so short a time, is worthy of note.

Gehrig was born in Australia but built her career in London, first studying at Central Saint Martins and initially entering the ad industry as a creative, including a stint at Mother. She admits that even in these early stages she was drawn to directing, however. “When I was an ad creative I would sometimes be on set watching a director and thinking … ‘well, that’s not what I would have done’,” she says. “That really is what prompted me to direct. I enjoyed the ‘making’ process much more than all the meetings that go with being a creative. I love getting my hands dirty, and for me I’m most alive when in the midst of ‘the making’.”

As a director, she has become known for ads that empower women, though usually with a strong dash of humour and wit. Of the way that she chooses projects, Gehrig says, “I try my best to choose them on my own gut instinct. It’s important to listen to the opinions of others and I do seek them. But over time I’ve learnt to really trust that inner voice and honestly, the projects I’ve enjoyed the most and the best work I’ve made all began with listening to that gut feeling.

“For me it is all about the core idea and the strategic leap,” she continues. “I think that you can only make really great work in advertising with a killer strategic or creative ‘leap’. Otherwise it is all a bit familiar.”

I try my best to choose them on my own gut instinct… the best work I’ve made all began with listening to that gut feeling.

This leap is certainly evident in Viva La Vulva, a hilarious spot packed full of singing vulvas, and the latest ad from feminine hygiene brand Libresse, which is gaining a reputation for ads that chime with real women. Gehrig had initially turned down the ad due to a packed schedule but was then won over by the brilliance of the script.

“With reluctance I finally read it and within an instant I knew I had to do it,” she explains. “And I knew exactly what to do with it. For me those are always the best projects, when the penny drops straight away. So I jumped on a call with Caio [Giannella] and Diego [Olivera] from AMV and I remember saying, ‘I only have one way into this…. If you like it, great! But if not, no worries…. The vulvas have to sing … you know, a vagina lip-sync video.’

“It was such a crazy phone call. I couldn’t quite believe that I was saying what I was … but I was in the middle of dance rehearsals for Chaka Khan [for the video Like Sugar] so my adrenalin was high and I just went with it. I had absolutely no idea how I would make it, or how it would turn out. But it was an idea that made me smile. It felt brave. And for me that is golden.”

While Gehrig has received accolades from pundits and the public alike, she has also received criticism, most obviously for the recent Gillette ad, which received an enormous, and immediate, backlash when the likes of Piers Morgan vociferously took against it. The ad took on the subject of so-called ‘toxic masculinity’ and the social media response to it was vicious and unrelenting. As a female director helming a spot about men, Gehrig was particularly singled out for attacks.

As I am a ‘female’ director, it fitted neatly into a troll’s narrative. Misogyny online is a huge problem.

The response to the ad came as a shock. “I was really challenged when the Gillette campaign was so politicised,” she says. “I was surprised when it received such an intense backlash from certain groups of men. What was most challenging though was the fact that this was directed at me personally when the truth of the project was it was conceived, written and edited by a group of men. As I am a ‘female’ director, it fitted neatly into a troll’s narrative. Misogyny online is a huge problem. The irony is that their reaction just proved the point the campaign was making and is evidence of the need for work that challenges misogyny. I definitely learnt a lot and that experience will definitely inform what I do in the future.”

In the immediate aftermath of the ad’s release, Gehrig opted to avoid engaging with the debate. “I was personally so floored that I just couldn’t find the right response. So no response became my response,” she says. “For me I like to let the work do the talking … and I was fortunate enough to collaborate on Nike’s Dream Crazier straight after the shitstorm. Emma [Barnett] and Alex [Romans] from Wieden + Kennedy had written a monologue for Serena that felt almost autobiographical to me in that moment. I had definitely been made to feel ‘crazy’. So to contribute to that project in the wake of everything that had happened felt really potent. The perfect response.”

Gehrig has been connected to Free The Bid, an organisation pushing to get more women into ad directing, an arena that has long been dominated by men. Reflecting on her own career she is not certain what impact her gender has had, though feels that the industry as a whole is finally opening up more to women. “When I started directing I never considered my gender and whether I had less opportunities,” she says. “I was pretty gung ho, so I just went for it. On reflection my journey has probably been a slower one for that reason, but I think the pathways are now much more accessible for younger female directors, which is fantastic.”

And as to her own future plans, Gehrig suggests that long-form features may be part of it. “Let’s see,” she says in response to what’s next for her. “I’m always exploring and working. I have lots of ideas and as my kids are getting older I am hoping a film is on the horizon … watch this space.”

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