International Women’s Day Brings Innovative Marketing
Mar 16th, 2013 by Nadia Gunderson
International Women’s Day (IWD) was celebrated on March 8th. The idea of choosing a day to celebrate women’s rights, and women’s contributions to society came in 1977, when the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution calling on member states to proclaim a day for women’s rights and international peace. In Canada, IWD carries a special theme each year. This year’s theme is “Working Together: Engaging Men to End Violence against Women”. Support for and recognition for IWD has grown dramatically over the past decade, and “it has also evolved into a massive day of social media activism, with campaigns popping up throughout the social web”.
One campaign related to IWD that I found especially powerful was the “WeAreEQUALS” Facebook App. EQUALS is an organization comprised of leading charities in the United Kingdom and the United States (such as Save the Children, Oxfam and Women’s Aid) that come together to promote a more equal world. IWD is certainly an important day for EQUALS and in light of the day, the WeAreEQUALS Facebook App was launched. The app “represents an agreement between two friends to equality, presumably between the sexes”. Upon downloading the app, it will ask you to upload an image of yourself and an image of the person who commits to being equal. The app will then merge the two images to create a split frame photo, similar to the ones in the image below. The app encourages you to post and share the image along with your pledge to equality. Examples of pledges include: People will think society is gender equal “when the tears of a woman are tears of joy” or “when the figures actually speak for themselves”.
The WeAreEQUALS Facebook Equalizer App is just one of many media campaigns that support IWD. We need to continue to develop initiatives to promote an environment where women and men are equal in every aspect of society. In North America, we have made progress, but as this year’s IWD theme attests, we still have work to do. In addition, there are many countries around the world where gender equality is still a dream. Although not the only way, the web is a fantastic means to promote the cause, raise awareness and contribute to change.