International Women’s Day is celebrated on Mar. 8 to highlight the many contributions women have made to the world. This date “is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity,” as stated by the International Women’s Day website. This year’s theme, #BalanceForBetter, hopes to “build a gender-balanced world.”
Last year, we saw many brands participate in celebrating Women’s Day by incorporating the 2018 theme #PressForProgress into their advertisements. Brands included Brawny, McDonald’s, Mattel, Nike and more.
Brawny made the switch from advertising with their regular lumberjack mascot to featuring strong women instead. The video can be seen here. They made the hashtag “Strength has no gender” to go along with this campaign.
McDonald’s made a statement in 2018 by flipping its golden arches to make a “W”. McDonald’s spokesperson Lauren Altmin said the change was in “celebration of women everywhere.”
Mattel introduced a new “Role Model” collection that contains 17 new Barbie dolls all inspired by real women. The line includes Frida Kahlo, Gabby Douglas and Amelia Earhart among others. In a statement, Lisa McKnight, senior vice president and general manager for Barbie, said the following, “Girls have always been able to play out different roles and careers with Barbie and we are thrilled to shine a light on real-life role models to remind them that they can be anything.” The Barbie website says, “Imagining she can be anything is just the beginning. Actually seeing that she can makes all the difference,” encouraging girls that their dreams can be achieved through the 2018 line of dolls.
Nike released its “Until We All Win” campaign around the 2018 International Women’s Day date as well, featuring Serena Williams. You can watch the commercial here. In the commercial, Williams says, “I’ve never been the right kind of woman. Oversized and overconfident. Too mean if I don’t smile. Too black for my tennis whites. Too motivated for motherhood, but I’m proving, time and time again, there’s no wrong way to be a woman.”
These advertisements and campaigns will be a tough act to follow for 2019’s theme of Balance for Better.
Nike has already made a comeback with its newest commercial release for a campaign called “Dream Crazier.” You can watch the advertisement here. They bring back Serena Williams to narrate and empower women through her inspirational speech and monumental moments in women’s athletics. The Nike website states “Dream Crazier shines a spotlight on female athletes who have broken barriers, brought people together through their performance and inspired generations of athletes to chase after their dreams.” The ad features clips of women athletes such as Simone Biles, Ibtihaj Muhammad and Serena Williams. It leads us with the call to action, “show them what crazy can do.”
PrettyLittleThing, a clothing and apparel company for women, has also come out with a campaign to celebrate International Women’s Day called #everyBODYinPLT. Activist and influencers such as Danielle Candray and Madison Lawson made up the team to model PLT’s new line, featuring T-shirts that read “GRL PWR” and shorts that read “GIRL GANG” across the back. According to a Bustle article, all proceeds from this campaign will go to charity.
With International Women’s Day right around the corner, we hope to see more inspiring and empowering ads coming from companies to celebrate and raise awareness to this year’s theme: #BalanceForBetter!