WORLD’S BEST FEMALE FOOTBALL PLAYER STARS IN #UNSTEREOTYPE CAMPAIGN

TitleWORLD’S BEST FEMALE FOOTBALL PLAYER STARS IN #UNSTEREOTYPE CAMPAIGN
BrandUNILEVER
Product/ServiceCALVÉ PEANUT BUTTER
Category A01. Food & Drink
Entrant MULLENLOWE ALFRED Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Idea Creation MULLENLOWE ALFRED Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
PR 2TWINTIG Rotterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Production PINK RABBIT Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Credits
Name Company Position
Aad Kuijper MullenLowe Alfred Creative Director copy
Patrick de Zeeuw MullenLowe Alfred Creative Director Art

Write a short summary of what happens in the film

The ad displays a bunch of kids playing football on a training field. When a typically Dutch shower of rain breaks loose, their coach calls off the training: “Okay guys, time to go inside!”. All the kids seek shelter, except for one little rascal who passionately keeps on practicing. When noticed, the coach has to drag the kid off the field. The kid, as it turns out, is young Lieke Martens, who was voted FIFA’s World’s Best Player of the year after winning the Women’s Euro 2017 cup with the Dutch national team.

Cultural/Context information for the jury

Starting in the 80’s, Calvé peanut butter has built up a strong advertising heritage of featuring famous Dutch athletes eating a Calvé peanut butter sandwich in their childhood years, like every Dutch kid. All these sportsmen grew up with it, persisting to become the greatest. In the spirit of the #unstereotype movement, the brand saw the opportunity to contribute to the social issue. Not by an explicit purpose driven campaign, which would have been unnatural for this brand, but simply by featuring a female hero for the first time. The unstereotyping message is further strengthened by the choice of football, which is traditionally considered a boy’s game, and the coach’s unintentional gender-biased pick of words (you said: “guys!”). Using the innocent perspective of a persistent little girl, Calvé hopes to add a strong and positive contribution to a grown-up debate about being inclusive.