How Dark & Lovely brought new hairstyles to The Sims to improve representation for Black gamers

On its surface, a tie-up between Dark & Lovely and The Sims video game franchise may seem like an odd activation. Just ask Taireek Simms, who oversees marketing for the L’Oréal-owned brand that specializes in hair care products for women of color. “We’re one of the brands you wouldn’t expect to see in a gaming space,” said Simms, who is senior manager of global marketing at L’Oréal. But the reason for its likely absence—because Black representation in video games is lacking—is precisely why the brand decided to jump in. Dark & Lovely identified that, like its core customers, Black gaming enthusiasts have a penchant for expressing themselves through creativity. After speaking with individuals from this cohort, however, it learned that their expression is commonly hampered by a lack of diversity in hair and beauty options for in-game character creation. “We felt we needed to step in and help close that gap,” Simms said. See Ad Age’s 2024 Breakout Brand Leaders and Work here With the help of creator Ebonix, Dark & Lovely developed a plethora of new hairstyle choices for Black gamers in Electronic Arts’ life simulation game The Sims 4. The effort is called “Play in Color.” An accompanying digital media strategy, executed with the help of production company Fourth Frame Studios, brought Dark & Lovely’s initiative to audiences across the internet. The story of the campaign was housed in a seven-minute documentary that beauty influencers shared along with links to test the game’s new hairstyle tools. Within two weeks, the documentary helped to deliver an 85% increase in year-over-year traffic to Dark & Lovely’s website. While the new hairstyles are available only on The Sims 4, Dark & Lovely does not see the game as any kind of boundary to the campaign’s impact. “Hopefully this can snowball and other gaming publishers can catch on,” Simms said. See Ad Age’s 2024 Breakout Brand Leaders and Work here

How Dark & Lovely brought new hairstyles to The Sims to improve representation for Black gamers

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