Procter & Gamble Launches "Love Over Bias" Campaign Ahead Of PyeongChang Games
Procter & Gamble is "rolling out a sequel film" in its "Proud Sponsor of Moms" campaign with a new short film called "Love Over Bias," highlighting athletes in anticipation of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games, according to Cassidy Mantor of FASHION NETWORK. The new film in the "Thank You, Mom" series showcases athletes "achieving their goals with the support of their moms in the face of bias." It features six vignettes, including a girl whose culture "does not believe femininity and competition are aligned," and a boy who comes from a low-income family whose parents will help him achieve his goals "at all costs." The new film also deals with issues of race, religion and sexual orientation and the support the athletes received from their moms. P&G is creating two additional films spotlighting gender issues and will tell the story of Gus Kenworthy, a 2014 medalist and openly gay athlete, and Elana Meyers Taylor, a two-time medalist who was the first woman to pilot a mixed-gender, four-man bobsled (FASHION NETWORK, 11/1). AD AGE's Jack Neff reported P&G's #LoveOverBias video from Wieden & Kennedy, Portland launched on Wednesday. The #LoveOverBias ad said, "Imagine if the world could see what a mom does," after showing brief vignettes that include a Muslim speed skater, a gay figure skater and a female Korean hockey player, all set to a new version of the Five Stairsteps' "O-o-h Child" by Chinese-American performer Milck. P&G's last anti-bias video, part of its "My Black Is Beautiful" campaign in July, "unleashed a wave of criticism." But Chief Brand Officer Marc Pritchard is "still making good on his promise to keep putting the corporate brand behind anti-bias efforts." Pritchard said, "This time given the context of what's important in the world right now, we decided to kind of pivot our Proud Sponsor of Moms advertising more to a company point-of-view. This is part of a broader corporate citizenship effort. We want to be a force for good and a force for growth." He added that the ad is also "focused squarely on winning with millennials," who "are highly focused on the Olympics" and consume an average of four hours of Olympics content a day, "and are focused on equality and inclusion." Pritchard: "Sports may be the most level playing field of all professions and in fact has probably the greatest degree of diversity and many biases, but even athletes face bias. That's why we wanted to take a look at that" (AD AGE, 11/2). A recent survey distributed to Olympians by the IOC on behalf of P&G found that:
55% felt prejudice or judgment from others growing up.
53% responded that their mom was their strongest supporter in the face of bias.
99% felt that what helped them become an Olympic athlete was their moms believing in them (IOC).
