You're NOT A Princess! (Mercy College Fights Princess Culture to Get Girls To Further Education)

It's gone viral and it's easy to see why. With Princess Culture pervading American society, in particular, these days, would you dare to tell a girl "You are NOT a princess?"

The campaign works well, by grabbing your attention this way, as in, "How dare they tell me/my girl that you are not/should not aspire to be a princess?!" Then it tells girls "you are more", "rescue yourself", among other strong girl messages. the "prepare for life tagline included on all the posters makes it clear the emphasis is on empowering rather than destroying dreams (because, if you're smart, you can have those too.)

It's being called a feminist campaign, although a more accurate term might be pro-girls-education campaign. Mind you, Mercy College is an all-girls college prep-school so it makes sense for them to focus on a female-centric message rather than just a pro-education, but it should also be noted that it's a Catholic school, so this is a pretty progressive stance.

Although we wish this was the norma and didn't need to say it at all, we still think Mercy College should get kudos for this gutsy move.

Here's a nice summary/commentary from Adweek:

A tiny, all-female Catholic college-prep academy in Kentucky has created a curious ad campaign, via agency Doe-Anderson, that flies in the face of all my assumptions regarding Catholic education. The deeply feminist campaign tells young women, "You're not a princess" and "Life's not a fairytale," and advises them: "Don't wait for a prince." The tagline is: "Prepare for real life." 

Let me explain why this is so cool. Is this a new message? No, it's many decades old. Is it a common message? Sadly, also no. This type of talk is not only still new to a lot of people, it's particularly timely as the Disney-princess empire continues to expand by dainty leaps and fierce bounds. What's most remarkable is that a Catholic preparatory school is taking a view of women's education that doesn't end in a prince. Lord have mercy, but Mercy Academy has a progressive view on women's role in the world.

What was your first reaction? And what was your second?

Perhaps I should point out the fine print below which reads:

You're not a princess.

BUT YOU CAN STILL RULE THE WORLD.

Where's the "love" button?