Unilever's Degree calls out fitness centers for making people with disabilities uncomfortable

Unilever’s Degree is calling out the fitness industry in a full-page ad in the Sunday New York Times, citing a survey showing 81% of people with disabilities don’t feel welcome at fitness centers. The ad from Edelman goes on to announce a new program called TrainersForHire.com to assemble athletes with disabilities who are ready to work with fitness centers to make them more inclusive. The campaign includes mobile, out-of-home billboards and personal notes to executives at major fitness brands, culminating in an event Tuesday in which American Paralympian Blake Leeper will lead pop-up cycling classes in New York City’s Flatiron District alongside other disabled athletes and fitness-industry hiring managers. “People with disabilities feel judged, and when you dig deeper into that, movement spaces are one of the biggest areas where people feel vulnerable,” says Kathryn Swallow, global brand VP of Degree and global sibling Rexona, which is also pursuing the “Watch Me Move” initiative in Europe. Degree didn’t just go off and run an ad in The New York Times. “I’ve actually written to 50 different people in different companies, and we’ve basically told them this stat [about 81% of people with disabilities feeling uncomfortable in their facilities] and said, ‘Look, guys, we need to create this change,’” Swallow says. But she got little response, she says. Unilever worked with Lakeshore Foundation, a fitness, recreation, sport, research and advocacy organization for people with physical disabilities located in Birmingham, Alabama, in creating the ad. The “Watch Me Move” initiative comes as Degree and Rexona continue to make progress on a Degree Inclusive deodorant for people with visual and upper body disabilities, which earned Unilever an Innovation Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions festival earlier this year. Feedback from a first round of testing is leading to some changes in design, such as slowing the speed at which the deodorant comes out. Degree plans to begin testing an improved version soon on the way to a planned full-scale launch in the second half of next year, Swallow says. “The more I see and read about this and get the insight, the more I think Degree Inclusive is a platform, not just a product,” she says. Part of the feedback the brand has gotten is that while the product is welcome, the “whole path to purchase is horrendous,” Swallow says. So part of the launch will be looking at the in-store and online shopping experience to make it as inclusive as possible, she says. “Honestly there’s quite a lot to do to change the whole process."

Unilever's Degree calls out fitness centers for making people with disabilities uncomfortable

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