Mother’s striking No7 metaphor raises the bar for skin care advertising so high

A surfer climbs up the wall of a mega-wave, dragging her board behind her by the leg rope. You’re going to watch that. The surfer turns out to be, “bad ass” US world champion, Lisa Andersen. The film turns out to be an ad for No7’s range of clinically-proven serums. Its message turns out to be, “I’ve faced many challenges. Age is not one of them.”

Mother is reimagining skin care advertising with its Ready campaign (of which this is the fifth execution). And that’s such a good thing. A good thing for women. And a good thing for No7.

Anderson’s ad is a metaphor of the extraordinary heights women are scaling every day, regardless of age, the mountainous wave representing the daily challenges Andersen faces. It’s an inspirational story of a woman who conquers the hurdles to keep doing what she loves, no matter her age.

Andersen is a four-time world champion surfer. Named as one of the 100 Greatest Sportswomen of the Century by Sports Illustrated magazine and inducted into the Surfer’s Hall of Fame. She has won almost every surf title there is, many times.

Andersen began surfing at the age of 13 (in the 1980s, when women’s surfing was underground, and surfing in general was seen as a man’s sport) and worked hard to impress her peers with her smooth but aggressive style. After making competitive history as a single mum, she soon became a surfing icon, transforming women’s surfing more than any surfer before her. Now 49, Andersen still enjoys surfing and still inspires women throughout the world.