A new ‘Born This Way’ campaign from Lux takes a stand supporting Olympic gold medalist Caster Semenya as she challenges her World Athletics ban.
The soap brand’s initiative supports the South African middle distance star’s battle to compete in the delayed Tokyo 2020/21 Olympic in Tokyo as she contests a ban imposed on her by World Athletics for having a natural high level of testosterone – despite being legally recognized as a woman.
Developed by agency Wunderman Thompson Singapore and led by an animated short deployed across social platforms, ‘Born This Way’ supports Semenya and all women challenging misogyny while expressing their femininity.
The campaign spans paid advertising on social channels and other media in support of Caster.
The hero animated execution, first posted on 26 April, includes the statement “Lux stands for Caster. Lux stands for all women” and the hashtag #IStandWithCaster (as well as #LUX #MyBeautyMyStrength).
The initiative drives home the message that Lux believes that women should not be judged for how they look: that no woman should ever be stripped of being a woman.
As well as the film, the campaign actively joins the fight to overturn the World Athletics’ ruling that bans her from running free unless she takes hormone-suppressing drugs and seeks to drive viewer to support the cause and sign the petition at http://bit.ly/istandwithcaster.
https://secure.avaaz.org/community_petitions/en/world_athletics_istandwithcaster/
“I am a woman, and I am fast. I have naturally high testosterone, but I am unapologetically a woman,” added Semenya, who continues to train to remain in peak scondition to defend her Olympic title despite the ban, in the campaign PR material.
Semenya states that she is “proud” to be involved and added that the brand should continue to educate and expose discrimination faced by athletes. By way of comparison, she points out that taller basketball players are not banned for having a physical advantage and asks why athletes with naturally high testosterone should be banned from running?
At the campaign launch, Lux’s Global Vice President Severine Vauleon explained that she was also passionate about brands and their ability to make “a positive impact” on people’s lives.
“It pains me that in this day and age, women still constantly get judged for how they look and choose to express their femininity,” commented Vauleon. “[Caster] is an example and an inspiration for women everywhere, to rise above the judgements of others and express their beauty fully and authentically. At Lux, we believe that beauty should be a source of strength rather than a source of judgement.”
Wunderman Thompson Global Chief Creative Officer Bas Korsten added: “LUX is an iconic brand with such a rich heritage. Marilyn Monroe and Liz Taylor were outspoken Lux ambassadors, just to name a few. LUX also has a strong purpose and is willing to stand behind its beliefs. Which means standing by all women. Caster Semenya is just one of those women. And we couldn’t be more proud to stand on the frontline with LUX because every woman has the right to express her femininity, and should never feel the need to self-edit.”
The campaign was created for the Unilever Lux brand marketing team led by Global Brand Vice President Severine Vauleon, Global Brand Director Ankush Wadehra, Global Assistant Brand Manager Vivien Ng and Global Assistant Brand Manager Angad Saxena by a group at Wunderman Thompson Singapore.
The agency team included Marco Versolato (CCO WPP@Unilever/Wunderman Thompson), Ricardo Tronquini (Creative Director), Ai-Lin Tan (Creative Director), SIxin Wu (Art Director), Hinoti Joshi (Business Account Management Lead – Global Lux), plus Len DeRosales (Senior Account Director), Fanny LeMasson (Senior Account Director) and Deeksha Siwach (Senior Account Executive), plus Lucile Belleville (Global Planning Director), Josslyn Li (Planner), Gerri Hamill (Head of Integrated Production), Sharmaine Ng (Production Coordinator), Rachel Chen (Business Affairs Manager), Hafiza Yussaini (Post Production Coordinator), Hidayah Asari (Producer), Luis Calvo (Online Editor), Benjamin Low (Online Editor) and Zakee Talib (Production Coordinator).
The production house was Final Frontier, the animation studio was Le Cube and the director was Ralph Karam, with audio production from DaHouse Audio GmbH, the composers were Lucas Mayer and Lucas Campello and the singer was Giovanna Moraes.
PR was handled by Hardy Boys (South Africa) and Edelman (South Africa) and media by PHD (South Africa).
Comment:
Alongside the brand’s support, the South African Parliament has also joined the African Human Rights Commission and other institutions to help Semenya in her fight for justice and equality.
Born with hyperandrogenism, Semenya is an intersex cisgender woman who was assigned female at birth with XY chromosomes and naturally elevated testosterone levels.
The Olympic and World champion has faced challenges, judgment and discrimination through her career. She has been subjected to cruel insults, humiliating sex tests and smears throughout her life and now faces an outright ban from athletics global governing body.
In the past she has found incredible mental strength to rise above it all and conquer these challenges and we hope she does so again.
The campaign is part of Unilever’s new ‘Positive Beauty’ global vision and strategy which launched on 9 March 2021 which aims to champion a new era of beauty which is equitable and inclusive (which also saw the company drop use of the word ‘normal’ from all its packaging).
Lux has pledged to inspire 50 million women by 2025 and this campaign is part of parent company Unilever’s umbrella ‘Positive Beauty’ pledge.
In 2018 and 2019, Nike celebrated Semenya’s life and achievements in a campaign called ‘Athlete In Progress’ and a 2018 ‘Just Do It’ spot.
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