Singapore: Today, Lux, one of Unilever’s largest Beauty & Personal Care brands who has been associated with celebrities since its creation in 1925, announced the launch of its new brand purpose – Inspiring women to defy judgments and to dare to express their femininity unapologetically. This purpose is based on the insight that the more effort women put into looking beautiful, the more they tend to be judged. To find out the root cause of this judgment, the brand dug deeper and found that, in particular, the creative and entertainment industries have an important role to play in shaping judgments on women.
“We are all influenced from a young age by the lyrics of the songs we listen to or by the movies we watch. The way women are portrayed in these songs or movies ends up influencing how we and society at large think women should look or behave. This is one of the tension points where judgements are coming from. To tackle this, we wanted to look specifically at the way women are portrayed in the entertainment industry and commit to recognising and supporting women who rise above judgement and challenge the stereotypes.” said Anne Radmacher, Global Brand VP, Lux – Unilever.
Today, Lux in collaboration with its global media agency Mindshare also announced the launch of a regional partnership with E! – the pop culture powerhouse of NBCUniversal International Networks (NBCUIN) – to drive real-time content and conversations celebrating women who defy judgements.
In recent years, the red carpet has become a platform for female celebrities to advocate social change and inspire female empowerment and equality. Tapping into this, Mindshare developed a strategic partnership between Lux and E! to gain access to red carpet moments as they happen at international award shows to create real-time content. The partnership was kicked off at this year’s Oscars with the campaign #LuxDefyingJudgements where a Digital Hub was set up to capture conversations live from the red carpet. These were then developed into “#LuxDefyingJudgements Moments” – a series of content and editorial stories that own the moment by capturing and celebrating women defying judgements about their femininity during the Oscars.
A particularly significant #LuxDefyingJudgements moment was defined when celebrities Elsie Fisher, Melissa McCarthy, Diane Warren, Awkwafina and Billy Porter, stepped into the spotlight as they expressed their femininity unapologetically and shattered gender norms. Their fashion statement met with rave reviews from the audience and critics alike, igniting conversations with a question that inspires women to defy judgement – Who said only men can wear the pants?
International superstar Michelle Yeoh also supported the call for more women to wear the pants in the film industry, calling for more female directors to be recognised because “that’s where it begins.”
“We are thrilled to be partnering with E! to celebrate women who defy judgement and to have the opportunity to initiate meaningful positive change among women all over the world through the content and conversations that we are creating.” said Lucius Young, Global Digital & PR Lead, Lux – Unilever.
“E! is the ultimate destination for Red Carpet coverage and we are incredibly honoured to be partnering with Lux and Mindshare in empowering women to challenge the status quo and redefine stereotypes,” commented Christine Fellowes Managing Director, NBCUniversal International Networks, Asia Pacific. “Filled with memorable moments seen through the lens of celebrity and pop culture, E! is a leading multi-platform content brand that allows our partners to tell their stories and create meaningful conversations in real-time.”
The regional partnership between Lux and E! has been led by Lux’s Global Media Agency, Mindshare.
