Lux Challenge Media to ‘Change the Angle’ on Women in Sports
April 21, 2023
Unilever-owned beauty brand LUX has launched a campaign focused on sexist media coverage with support from top women athletes, sports commentators and officials. According to global brand vice president, Severine Vauleon, “women in sports are ten times more likely to be objectified by camera angles that focus on certain body parts compared to their male counterparts.” The brand has therefore launched "Change the Angle" to raise awareness of the issue and start conversations between broadcasters and audiences.
As part of its mission, Lux wants to "help women everywhere fight casual sexism at home, in the workplace and in wider society." It notes that the media focuses "too often on 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.” To address, Lux worked with creative agency, Wunderman Thompson Singapore, in partnership with Volleyball South Africa and South African sports broadcaster SABC, to take over a live Durban Open vollleyball tournament and highlight potentially sexist camera angles.
The goal is to make people think about how women athletes – and women in general – are judged by appearances rather than performances. The Durban Open took place on April 15 and 16 featuring eight different women's teams and reaching an estimated audience of 19.7 million. As part of the campaign, players wore QR codes on their bodies – placed in areas that sports broadcasters supposedly focus on. When scanned, the code directs viewers to a Lux film featuring leading sportswomen urging broadcasters to ‘change the angle’ on how the athletes are portrayed, stating they should focus on the women's strengths rather than their physical attributes. The video highlights that “2500 pictures objectifying women were reported at the 2021 Olympics” and ends with best practice tips for the media on how women in sports should be depicted.
According to an analysis of women’s beach volleyball during the 2004 Summer Olympics, more than 20% of the camera shots were found to be close-ups of the players’ chests and over 17% were close-up bottom shots. Although the campaign's focus was on beach volleyball, Lux notes that the problem is far wider and expands to other sports.
Women sprinters during the 2019 World Athletics Championships complained about miniature cameras at starting blocks that were ‘meant to capture the intense moment just before the race.’ Instead, the athletes felt uncomfortable climbing over the cameras and bending down to their starting position, arguing that it highlighted and focused on their bodies from intimate angles.
“The media and specifically sports media have been contributing to the objectification of women by the way they point their cameras. Influencing millions and millions of people watching these sports events. It’s time the media start acknowledging and owning their role. Start changing the angle of their broadcasts. There’s so much beauty and strength in these incredible performances. Let’s focus on that!”ments in sport,” stated Bas Korsten, Global CCO at Wunderman Thompson.
Cricket commentator Kass Naidoo, netball star Bongi Msomi and LUX brand ambassador Zonzibini Tunzi have supported the campaign and shared it on social media, urging people to spread the QR code and message.
Building on its goal to change the wider perspective of women, the beauty brand has also partnered with South African NGO, Sonke Gender Justice, to help women in the country combat street harassment by focusing on changing the behavior of men and boys. The NGO’s belief is that women, girls, men and boys can work together to advocate for gender justice and must do so to achieve a gender transformation toward equality.
Sources: B&T Australia and Branding Asia