Winning Brands Include Lane Bryant, L’Oréal Paris, DICK’s Sporting Goods, Angel Soft and More
NEW YORK – SheKnows Media, a leading women’s media company that averages 60 million unique visitors per month (comScore) and reaches more than 300 million social media fans, today announced the winners of the third-annual #Femvertising Awards, which honors brands, agencies and organizations that break down gender stereotypes through pro-female advertising. This year, SheKnows Media expanded the scope of the awards with the addition of the new #Normvertising category, created to pay tribute to advertising that challenges societal norms – rejecting notions and labels associated with race, sexual orientation and religious beliefs. Also new in 2017 is #WinningWomen, a category that pays tribute to female athletes and the strong role models they represent.
“For the last two years, Angel Soft has actively pushed against stereotypes by telling the seldom heard stories of today’s real parents”
Since its launch in 2015, over 200 brands and agencies have entered and over 30K votes have been cast. This year, a combination of public votes and a high-profile panel of judges, which included Arianna Huffington, CEO of Thrive Global, Jodi Harris, Head of Consumer Insights, Anheuser-Busch, Lisa Sherman, President & CEO, Ad Council, Madonna Badger, Founder & Chief Creative Officer, Badger & Winters, actor and activist Maria Bello, Nanette Braun, Chief, Communications & Advocacy at UN Women and Reshma Saujani, CEO and Founder of Girls Who Code, determined the following 2017 #Femvertising Awards winners:
- #Normvertising: My First Women’s Day, featuring Valentina Sampaio, by L’Oréal Paris
- #WinningWomen: Raising An Olympian: Simone Biles Guide and Trust, by P&G
- #Dadvertising: Just Dad, by Angel Soft
- Inspiration: #ThisBody Is Made to Shine, featuring Ashley Graham and Gabourey Sidibe, by Lane Bryant
- Next Generation: Daughter, by Audi
- Social Impact: #FearlessGirl, by State Street Global Advisors
- People’s Choice: #MoreThanMean, featuring Sarah Spain and Julie DiCaro, by Just Not Sports
- #HatchKids Choice: #UnitedByHalf, by United Colors of Benetton
- Wildfire: CALIA–What Sports Taught Me, featuring Carrie Underwood, by DICK’S Sporting Goods
“We are immensely proud of the reception our #ThisBody is Made to Shine campaign received last fall. We continue to believe that all women should be seen and celebrated and have access to inspiring fashion. We also want to encourage Hollywood, the media and other brands to embrace body positivity in order to overcome outdated, social misconceptions. What an honor to receive an award – especially an award recognizing pro-female advertising – for continuing to embrace our core values which were established over a century ago by our founder, Lena Bryant,” said Lane Bryant Chief Marketing Officer, Brian Beitler.
“We believe advertising is able not only to reflect but to create culture. My First Women’s Day by L’Oréal Paris went far away from an ad campaign, by challenging stereotypes and promoting empathy globally in order to empower all people to dialogue and express themselves,” said Viviane Pepe, Creative Director at WMcCann. “This recognition is an honor that reaffirms the brand’s mission and our true belief: we are all worth it.”
“It’s a tremendous honor to be included among so many amazing projects and people that aim to advance causes that are critical to women,” said Brad Burke, co-creator of #MoreThanMean. “Online harassment will only be overcome when we have difficult conversations about the nature of the problem, and we thank Sarah Spain and Julie DiCaro for forcing that dialogue by sharing their own experiences.”
“For the last two years, Angel Soft has actively pushed against stereotypes by telling the seldom heard stories of today’s real parents,” said Kim Getty, President of Deutsch’s Los Angeles office. “The brand continues to showcase how softness and strength can take on many roles, and we’re thrilled the message is resonating.”
In addition, the teens and tweens who are part of #HatchKids, SheKnows Media’s digital literacy program designed to provide parents with useful, authentic insight into the most pressing issues impacting Gen Z kids today, reviewed the 2017 #Femvertising Awards entries. Their vote went to United Colors of Benetton, #UnitedByHalf campaign for its message of equality.
DICK’s Sporting Goods’ CALIA-What Sports Taught Me campaign is the winner of the #Femvertising Wildfire Award, which is determined by the SheKnows Media executive and editorial teams. Recognizing the direct link between athletics and female business leaders, this campaign resonated for the impact the company has in local communities, where $25 million has been donated to high school sports and 1,800 sports programs have been saved.
Finally, the People’s Choice Award goes to Just Not Sports this year for its #MoreThanMean spot for the strong support it received via social media during our week-long voting window from September 11 – 18, 2017.
“The media has always played a critical role in the way society thinks about gender. We must recognize leaders in the space that inspire and empower women and girls to break free of gender stereotypes through powerful advertising,” said Nanette Braun, Chief, Communications & Advocacy at UN Women.
Samantha Skey, President, SheKnows Media, said, “We launched this awards program with the intent to spotlight brands that positively portray women and girls in their marketing efforts. In just a few short years, empowerment advertising has become much more the norm, while degrading, harmful, stereotype-propagating campaigns have come under heavy public scrutiny. The #Femvertising Awards are part of this pivotal movement, and we must continue to push forward by honoring brands that reject gender norms and unattainable beauty standards for all people. The entries we received this year were nothing short of amazing. Thank you to all of our #Femvertising Awards nominees, and congratulations to this year’s winners.”
The 2017 #Femvertising Awards were revealed at Advertising Week New York 2017. To learn more, visit http://femvertisingawards.com. More about SheKnows Media can be found at www.sheknowsmedia.com.
About SheKnows Media
SheKnows Media is a top women’s lifestyle digital media company that averages 60 million unique visitors per month (comScore) and reaches more than 300 million social media fans and followers. The company operates a family of leading media properties that include SheKnows.com, BlogHer.com, STYLECASTER.com and HelloFlo.com. With a mission of women inspiring women, SheKnows Media is revolutionizing the publishing industry by forging a new kind of model that seamlessly integrates users, editors and content creators onto a single platform designed to empower all women to discover, share and create. Whether it’s parenting or pop culture, fashion or food, DIY or décor, our award-winning editorial team, Experts, bloggers and social media influencers produce authentic and on-trend content every day. We dig deep to learn what makes our audience tick, revealing unexpected insights on women and digital media. Our robust, end-to-end suite of premium branded content and influencer marketing solutions generate nearly 1 billion ad impressions per month (sources: DFP), allowing brands to distribute authentic content and integrated advertising at scale.
SheKnows Media is based in New York and Scottsdale, Ariz., with offices in Los Angeles and Chicago. We also operate internationally in Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom.
