Lux tells media to ‘Change the Angle’ towards female athletes

The campaign highlights how the coverage of female sports, or athletes, still misses the mark.

Unilever brand Lux, in its new campaign, highlights how the portrayal of female athletes is poor and sexualised in the media. The campaign states that the media coverage of female athletes “focusses too much on the female anatomy, rather than sporting achievements, through invasive angles and excessive close-up shots, which can potentially devalue the empowerment that sports bring to participants.”

With the ‘Change the Angle’ campaign, the brand wants to get broadcasters and photographers to reconsider their portrayal of women in sports. 

"Women in sports are 10 times more likely to be objectified by camera angles that focus on certain body parts, compared to their male counterparts. When we found out that this is also an issue for top female athletes, who have achieved incredible things, we knew we had to act," said Severine Vauleon, global brand VP, Lux. 

"This doesn't only devalue the female athletes' professional performance and achievements, but also perpetuates the objectification issue many women face every day. At Lux, we believe that beauty should be a source of strength, and that the focus should be on celebrating the beauty of their strength, skills and achievements in sport.”

The campaign has been developed by Wunderman Thompson Singapore.

Speaking about the campaign, Hinoti Joshi, global business lead, Wunderman Thompson Singapore, said, "The media and broadcasters have the power to change the sexist portrayal of women. We're actively calling them out so that they can recognise the flaws in this antiquated practice and become change agents to end everyday sexism.” 

For this campaign, the brand has also partnered with The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). As a part of the campaign, at South Africa's highly anticipated Durban Open Women's Beach Volleyball tournament this week, female athletes sported QR code on precisely those areas the cameras tend to focus on. Upon scanning, these 'viewers' were directed to the ad.