Kim Gehrig on directing excellent and topical ads

In the past 12 months, Kim Gehrig has directed stand-out spots for Libresse and Nike, as well as ‘that’ ad for Gillette. As part of our Annual 2019 coverage, Eliza Williams talks to her about how she chooses her projects, and dealing with a social media backlash

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.