Lux took on the challenge to combat everyday sexism by challenging the media and shifting the narrative around female sports coverage.
#ChangeTheAngle
Shining a light on the portrayal of female athletes by sports media
Client
- Unilever
Office
- Johannesburg
Challenge
Unilever beauty brand Lux presented us with an exciting challenge: to express their brand purpose, "Say No to Everyday Sexism," in South Africa in a powerful and impactful way. Our objective was to shed light on instances where society perpetuates sexism and draw attention to the portrayal of women in sports media.
Idea
Women's beach volleyball has emerged as the sport that is conventionally captured through a lens that perpetuates the overt sexualisation of women, with a heavy reliance on focusing on intimate parts of women's bodies through invasive angles and excessive zoom-ins.
We created a groundbreaking live 2.5 day women's sporting event from scratch, 'The Durban Open Women's Beach Volleyball,' sponsored by Lux. We partnered with South Africa's biggest broadcaster - the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), to broadcast the event as well as a full live stream. We created a QR code that was printed onto the athletes' attire replacing the sponsor's logo - these were strategically placed on areas that traditionally attract close-ups by cameras. We "hijacked" a camera to zoom in on the codes that viewers could scan that would direct them to an online film "I am greater than the sum of my body parts." This film aimed to educate audiences about everyday sexism while providing guidelines on how to shoot and broadcast female sports athletes in a respectful and non-invasive manner.
To amplify our campaign, we collaborated with influencers and Lux brand ambassadors, creating impactful assets to support drive and promotion.
Lux has been fighting against everyday sexism for years now and our responsibility as a partner to Lux is to challenge how things have been done, the unconscious bias that creeps into the media and marketing landscape, and the sporting world has been an important place to start.
Qondisa Ngwenya
Managing Director of VML's specialist sports and sponsorship arm
Growth
Over a two-week period, we generated a remarkable 4.7 billion impressions and R10 million in earned media worldwide. Our initiative was picked up by more than 370 publishers across the globe, and attracted 1.54 million views, propelling the #ChangeTheAngle movement to gain international momentum including from the BBC who praised Lux for their bravery and innovation in tackling this critical issue.
Most significantly, our efforts prompted over 40 journalists and influential figures in the broadcasting community to pledge their support and adopt the proposed changes.
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Awards
2023 Cannes Lions
Direct Channels Use of Broadcast
Shortlisted
2023 Cannes Lions
Media Channels Use of Events & Stunts
Shortlisted
2023 Creativepool Awards
Experiential
Silver
2023 Creativepool Awards
Branded Content
Silver
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