Always #likeagirl campaign hits out at stereotypical emojis

Procter & Gamble and its agency Leo Burnett have won major kudos for the #likeagirl campaigns, created for the Always brand. The latest Always #likeagirl campaign continues the theme of girl power by highlighting the stereotypes against women found in Unicode emojis – which portray females as brides, princesses and dancers, and in pink.

The brand interviewed 1,000 females between the ages of 16 and 24 for its new campaign. Documentary maker Lucy Walker filmed them being interviewed on how they feel about the existing emoji set. More than half felt emojis were stereotypical, with 67% saying the emojis imply that females are limited in terms of what they can do.

Stereotypical emojis may be, but that not’s stopping 82% of the participants interviewed from sending them every day, despite only dancing, getting married or grooming being depicted for females and no sports or professions being symbolised for them.

"We know that girls, especially during puberty, try to fit in, and are therefore easily influenced by society. We found that seven out of 10 participants felt that society limits them by projecting what they should or should not do or be," says Michele Baeten, associate brand director and Always "Like a Girl" leader at P&G.

Through its latest #likeagirl campaign, Always has highlighted how society often sends subtle messages that limit what females believe they can do, and reinforces stereotypes around females.  The campaign asks the participants to share what emojis they would like to see by sending a video or Tweet to #likeagirl. It’s a worldwide campaign that is communicated predominantly via digital platforms and social media. Baeton points out that while not all females in this age group speak English, they are united in their use of emojis and in how those emojis make them feel about themselves.

P&G executives have approached the Unicode Consortium about expanding the range of emojis, with the objective of there being a wide array of emojis in the near future that accurately represent what women of today stand for and can achieve. Unicode president Mark Davis has not committed to making specific changes but has been quoted in an e-mail as saying that the consortium has been working on a full representation of gender.

The big take-out: P&G, through its recent #likeagirl campaign for Always, has again championed the creation of a generation of confident young females by pointing out that the current range of Unicode emojis representing women are limited to gender stereotypes.