How brands are observing International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day, celebrated since 1911, has become a day for brands to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women while speaking out against inequities including gender-based violence and workplace discrimination. Here are some of the initiatives that brands launched this year in time for March 8—many of which extend throughout the month of March, which is Women's History Month in the U.S., U.K. and Australia. Nominate a barrier-breaking female marketing executive at AdAge.com/LeadingWomenAwards. 72andSunny To drive awareness for the one in four people who menstruate who unable to afford menstruation products, agency 72andSunny teamed with multiple nonprofits, including Period, to create a fictional cereal. “Loopholes” advertises an unexpected prize inside: tampons and pads. The fake box points out that government programs like SNAP exclude period products. The campaign supports the Menstrual Equity for All Act and provides resources for how to support the cause. Read more: This new cereal comes with a tampon ‘prize’ UPS UPS expanded its “Proudly Unstoppable” platform, formed last year to support minority-owned small businesses, for International Women’s Day. The company recruited three female artists—Marian Bantjes from Canada; Chen Peng from China; and Dani Pollehn from Germany—to create limited-edition box designs that depict women supporting one another. UPS will spotlight women-owned businesses on its “Proudly Unstoppable” landing page and partner with WeConnect International to award 10 grants to women-owned businesses in each of the artists’ countries, as well as the U.S. throughout March. Twitter Twitter today launched a page on its Community platform dedicated to women-led NFT projects. The page, titled “Women in NFTs,” is intended to be a space for women to share information on NFTs, support and communicate with each other. While Twitter has seen 375 million tweets related to NFTs since January 2021, only 32% of them have come from women, according to a survey conducted by the company. Moreover, women see a disproportionately smaller share of NFT sales on popular marketplaces. Celebrity Cruises Celebrity Cruises is replacing the “X” in its logo on its social media profiles with a double “X,” the symbol for the two chromosomes that cisgender women possess—and also projecting the logo onto its ship Celebrity Beyond for 24 hours. This vessel will be led by Captain Kate McCue, the first woman to captain a cruise ship in the U.S, according to the company, when it debuts in late April. One-third of Celebrity's bridge officers are women, the company announced, calling it a record-breaking statistic in the cruise industry. Only 2% of those who navigate or assist in navigating ships worldwide are women, according to the company. Two years ago, 22% of Celebrity Cruises’ bridge officers were women. “We are so proud to pioneer this path and keep at this work so everyone who dreams of a career onboard a cruise ship—whether they identify as male or female—encounters a new standard across the seven seas,” Celebrity Cruises president and CEO Lisa Lutoff-Perlo said in a press release. On International Women’s Day in 2020, the first all-female crew led one of the company’s cruises, and in June 2021, McCue captained the first Celebrity Cruises ship to sail from the U.S. after the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the company’s U.S. operations more than a year. Comedy Central and “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah” Comedy Central announced a partnership between "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah" and the Black-owned and women-run business Lolly Lolly Ceramics. The Milwaukee-based ceramics business created a limited-run collection of 100 mugs that feature the Daily Show’s logo, matte black ceramic and unconventionally-shaped handles. The first of three designs depicts Lolly Lolly founder Lalese Stamps’ take on the classic mugs displayed on the desks of late-night hosts for decades. Lolly Lolly is selling the mugs on three Thursdays this month—March 3, 10 and 17. “Never in my life did I imagine that I could pave my own way as creative in business through MUGS,” Stamps said. “I am excited to keep growing and sharing my story. My only hope is to inspire other Black youth to believe in themselves, surround themselves with excellent people and stay true to who they are.” With the partnership, The Daily Show is expanding its support of people from marginalized groups to “highlight underrepresented voices” in a “creative way,” producer Brittany Radocha said in a press release. Elvie Elvie, a women’s technology brand that sells products such as wearable breast pumps and pelvic floor trainers, launched a campaign today to celebrate mothers and the ways their bodies work to care for their children. At the heart of the campaign, called “Smart Bodies,” is a music video set to the “Smart Bodies anthem” co-written by Eva Lazarus, a multi-genre artist who drew on her experience as a mother to an almost 2-year-old boy to produce the lyrics alongside the creative agency Mother. In the high-energy video, Lazarus condemns the sexualization of women’s bodies and instead highlights their biological complexity. She told Ad Age that she hopes the song will help normalize conversations about the physical aspects of motherhood and post-natal changes to women’s bodies—and counter the shame that society places on new mothers and their bodies, particularly the persisting taboo around public breastfeeding. “When it comes to talking about your breasts, your vagina or your pelvic floor, and the function of [them], for some reason we have to be ashamed about it,” Lazarus said. “But we have to look after those things; they’re important.” The Smart Bodies campaign will run in the U.S. and in seven other markets across various social media platforms, including YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. Fox and SeeHer Fox Corp.’s celebration will lean into the “Women Providing Healing, Promoting Hope” theme of Women’s History Month by featuring the stories of several female doctors and nurses who have worked to combat the pandemic. Fox will air a primetime video ad featuring doctors and nurses sharing their experiences and will share video content highlighting these women across social media platforms for Fox’s medical drama "The Resident." For the campaign, known as “She’s a Hero,” the brand is partnering with the SeeHer movement, an initiative led by the Association of National Advertisers that works to present an authentic portrayal of women and girls in advertising and media. Bank of America also recently jumped onto the “She’s a Hero” campaign as a financial sponsor of the Fox initiative. “Authentically portraying women and girls in media is crucial and we know the positive impact that comes from sharing stories of real women,” Jeannine Shao Collins, SeeHer president, said in a press release. “We look forward to highlighting these heroes on International Women’s Day.” Gymshark Fitness apparel and accessory brand Gymshark is working to challenge the fitness industry's gender bias with its “We, the Changemakers” campaign. The campaign spotlights individuals and groups breaking down barriers for women in gym environments and other areas of athletics, beginning with the group Gym Safe Ladies, a U.K.-based organization that calls attention to the issue of sexual harassment in gyms and creates fitness environments that are safe for all athletes. Gymshark will feature the group and its story across its social media profiles throughout the week. Precious Adams, junior soloist for the English National Ballet who challenged the ballet organization’s dress code of pale pink tights because they don’t match her dark skin, and the Yellow Jacket Roller Derby, a co-ed collegiate league at the Georgia Institute of Technology that encourages the inclusion of skaters from the LGBTQ community, will both be highlighted later in the month. Gymshark is also seeking nominations to award three grants of $10,000 each to women-owned organizations or to individuals in the fitness industry who are “actively and publicly inspiring, educating or driving change for women,” according to a press release. The three winners of the grants will also have the opportunity to participate in a mentorship program. “We all know what the problems are in society for women,” said Jodanna Bird, Gymshark’s senior creative for the campaign, in an interview. “I just really hope that a campaign like this shows people that change is possible. We just have to go out in their own communities and do it.” Hershey’s Hershey’s is honoring women and girls by highlighting the central placement of the word “she” in its logo on limited-edition chocolate bars in the U.S. in a campaign that includes actress and producer Mindy Kaling. This “Celebrate SHE” initiative is an expansion of last year’s campaign that honored important women such as Gloria Steinem, a journalist and key figure in the women’s rights movement, and Katherine Johnson, a mathematician for NASA. The campaign invites people to use the hashtag #HerSHE throughout March on social media photos of women they view as heroes in their lives, or “SHEros.” Hershey’s partnered with EnTribe, a software platform, to select 50 participants who will win a gift pack of chocolate for uploading the best photos. “This is a new occasion to warm hearts and recognize women in our lives (whether celebrating HER accomplishments or all that SHE is),” Alyssa Smith, brand manager for Hershey’s, wrote in a post on the company’s website. Hershey’s is also donating $150,000 to the nonprofit Girls on the Run.Nominate a global female leader for Ad Age's Leading Women 2022 awards. Infiniti USA and Waze In the U.S., streets named in honor of men and landmarks created to celebrate male historical figures greatly outnumber the number of those that exist to recognize women. This morning, Infiniti, the luxury vehicle division of Nissan, launched a campaign in partnership with the navigation app Waze to elevate the presence of female-centered landmarks in 14 cities across North America. The “Pave It Forward” campaign will draw attention to landmarks depicting female historical figures and to women-owned businesses by allowing Waze users to view pins on the map interface that correspond to these locations and see landmarks in their area when they type in a destination. The companies consulted the National Women’s History Museum to choose notable historical landmarks across the 14 participating cities, which include Philadelphia, Boston, New York City, Dallas, Washington, D.C. and Toronto. Instacart The online grocery platform Instacart announced Thursday that it is allocating $1 million to support women-owned food and beverage brands advertising on the company’s website and app, marking a continuation of the Instacart Ads Initiative launched in June 2021 to provide $1 million in digital advertising support to Black-owned brands. Instacart partnered with three women-led brands to kick off the initiative: Sweet Loren’s, a gluten- and dairy-free cookie brand; Three Wishes Cereal, which makes low-sugar cereals; and TWRL Milk Tea, a brand of canned, organic milk tea. Women comprise a significant portion of Instacart’s users, according to Ali Miller, the head of ads product at the company. About 80% of customers and 70% of shoppers—those who collect, purchase and deliver the items ordered by customers—are women, and a female CEO, Fidji Simo, heads the company, Miller said in an interview. “Our goal is to continue to identify and amplify more women entrepreneurs and brands with Instacart Ads to help them drive discovery and business growth,” Miller said in a press release. Saks Off 5th and Women’s Health After two years of the pandemic pressure on frontline workers in hospitals and other medical settings, this year’s Women’s History Month theme is “Women Providing Healing, Promoting Hope.” Women’s Health magazine and retailer Saks Off 5th have teamed up to launch an event celebrating female frontline healthcare workers: the “Recharge Summit.” The initiative began on Friday with a shopping event at Saks Off 5th in New York City, where more than 65 female healthcare workers gathered to choose an outfit that the brand then gifted to them. The day wrapped with a panel discussion featuring women in health care who described the pandemic’s impact on their careers and personal lives. Amanda Kloots, a fitness expert, author and co-host of the daytime talk show "The Talk," and OB/GYN Dr. Jessica Shepherd, were among the panelists. The second day of the summit, March 11, involves a day of self-care at a NYC-based spa and wellness club. “This pandemic has been a toll on everyone, globally. But for women, I think that there’s always a lot more that we may have to carry in our lives,” Shepherd said during the panel. “We’re the nucleus of our lives, of our homes, of our families, of our spaces. The amount of work and empathy and effort … Share stories with each other. Be proud of who you are and what you’ve done.” Saks Off 5th will donate $1 to the United Way’s 211 program, which provides information about resources including food discounts and mental healthcare, for every person who joins Kloots for a live video workout on the Women’s Health Instagram. Spotify Spotify is observing today’s holiday with the release of its “With Love” campaign, which centers around three podcast playlists that feature 24 women sharing their stories with other women—including their past selves or other women who impacted their lives in some way. The campaign invites these women, many of whom are artists, podcast creators or activists, to “give an intimate look at experiences from a wide array of women” and honor other women in their lives. The audio streaming platform will also continue the Equal campaign it launched to observe International Women’s Day in 2021. In the Equal hub, users can access content produced by female artists and podcasters. This year, it plans to expand this Equal initiative, including the creation of a playlist that will include only songs written, produced and performed entirely by women. Spotify will also redesign the Equal hub’s interface and extend its reach into markets across the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan. The redesigned hub will highlight international nonprofit organizations that promote gender equality in the music and audio industries.Nominate a barrier-breaking female marketing executive at AdAge.com/LeadingWomenAwards. Thinx and Walmart Period underwear producer Thinx announced today that the brand will expand access to its products by launching a more affordable collection called “Thinx For All.” Thinx will sell the collection at 558 Walmart locations and on Walmart.com. The company also announced it is collaborating with Arkansas Women’s Outreach—a nonprofit organization that helps homeless women access health services and other resources—to increase access to “comfortable, effective” and “sustainable” period products among those in poverty. Thinx shared that “period poverty” hits young people especially hard, with one in five students answering in the 2021 State of the Period Poll that they “struggle to afford period products or are unable to purchase them at all.” Last month, Kimberly-Clark Corp., maker of more traditional period products include Kotex, acquired a majority stake in Thinx, sharing that it sees a growing number of consumers purchasing newer solutions such as Thinx’s absorbent underwear. Tushy Outspoken bidet brand Tushy's “#WeDoShit campaign” urges people to celebrate the achivements of successful women while somehow simultaneously acknowledging that women and girls do actually poop, despite years of conversations suggesting otherwise. As Tushy shared in a press release, women “do some really cool shit that’s way more important than worrying about whether or not they take dumps.” A campaign video features female entrepreneurs and artists sitting on a toilet and discussing the reality of women’s bodily functions and recognizing their own career successes. Each time this video is retweeted from Tushy’s Twitter account today, the company will donate $1 to Girls with Guts, a nonprofit organization that serves women with inflammatory bowel disease. Tushy is also selling a limited-edition T-shirt and all proceeds will go to Girls with Guts. “The shame created around pooping holds women back from living authentically and often forces them to choose stomach pain and bloating over using a public restroom, or even mentioning to doctors or friends that they’re suffering from GI issues,” the company stated. “Through the #WeDoShit campaign, TUSHY is on a mission to end the patriarchal, puritanical, and archaic stigma around women’s bodily functions to free them of BS societal shame.” Contributing: Asa Hiken, Parker Herren

How brands are observing International Women’s Day

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