Title	THE NON-ISSUE
Brand	L'ORÉAL PARIS
Product/Service	AGE PERFECT
Category	B04. Business Citizenship / Corporate Responsibility & Environmental
Entrant	McCANN PARIS, FRANCE
Idea Creation	McCANN PARIS, FRANCE
Idea Creation 2	McCANN LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
Media Placement	CONDÉ NAST INTERNATIONAL London, UNITED KINGDOM
Production	CRAFT LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
Additional Company	FACEBOOK Paris, FRANCE

Name	Company	Position
Julien Calot	McCann Paris	Executive Creative Director Beauty Team
Rob Brown	McCann London	Executive Creative Director Beauty Team
Regan Warner	McCann London	Creative Director Beauty Team
Riccardo Fregoso	McCann Paris	Executive Creative Director, Creative President
Charlotte Franceries	McCann Paris	Beauty Team President
Muriel Lapeyre	McCann London	Global Account Director Beauty Team
Pierre-Jean Bernard	McCann Paris	Head of Social Media
Clement Fiorda	McCann Paris	Global Planning Director Beauty Team
Adrian Botan	McCann WorldGroup Europe	Global Executive Creative Director
Harjot Singh	McCann WorldGroup Europe	Chief Strategy Officer
Carmen Bistrian	McCann WorldGroup Europe	Creative Excellence Manager Europe
Rob Doubal	McCann London	Chief Creative Officer, McCann UK, and Co-President
Laurence Thomson	McCann London	Chief Creative Officer, McCann UK, and Co-President
Chad Warner	McCann London	Integrated Creative Director
Rose Van Orden	McCann London	Planning Partner
Joy Molan	McCann London	Junior Planner
Alison Webber	McCann London	Managing Partner
Beth Kojder	McCann London	Senior Account Manager
Louise Hawthornthwaite	McCann London	Project Director
Sergio Lopez	Craft/McCann	Chief Production Officer EMEA
Serena Moll	Craft/McCann	Producer
Ben Twiston-Davies	Craft/McCann	Director
Matt Dollings	Craft/McCann	Editor
Sabina Dallu	Craft/McCann	Editor
Adrien Simmonet	McCann Paris	Art Director Beauty Team
Valentin Crespo	McCann Paris	Assistant Art Director Beauty Team
Gina Winsky	McCann Paris	Copywriter Beauty Team
Dylan Decremp	McCann	Assistant Art Director Beauty Team
Pierre-Emmanuel Angeloglou	L’Oréal Paris	Global Brand President
Adrien Koskas	L’Oréal Paris	Managing Director UK & Ireland
Karen Jones	L’Oréal Paris	General Manager UK & Ireland
Ginevra Capece Galeota	Facebook	Creative Strategist – Global Accounts
Christopher Price	Facebook	AR/VR Business Development

Why is this work relevant for PR?

‘The Non-Issue’ was an unprecedented PR achievement: the coming together of two titans of fashion and beauty to disrupt society’s negative attitude towards ageing. L’Oréal Paris’s May Vogue takeover was the biggest, branded special edition in Vogue’s history and reimagined what editorial content could achieve. With 80 pages of aspirational fashion and world-class content made by, and dedicated to, women over-50, ‘The Non-Issue’ celebrated older women where they felt least visible. Without paid media, its age-positive statement reached audiences worldwide: 3.9M people offline and 19M online.

Background

L’Oréal Paris has always believed every woman is worth it, at every age. It pioneered skincare for mature skin and actively champions age-positivity. We were dismayed to discover that, although 40% of women are over-50 – and are the fastest growing demographic – over-50s represent only 15% of women in the media. The disappearance of older women from culture sends a message to all women that growing older means becoming worthless and irrelevant. No wonder women in their 30s fear ageing more than any group. As the world’s biggest beauty brand, we felt deeply uncomfortable that gender-based ageism has been accepted as an unspoken norm. Every L’Oréal Paris customer will, hopefully, one day be over 50. We had a business imperative to better represent older women. Ageism works against every single one of us. We had a cultural responsibility to prove that every woman, whatever her age, is worth it.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

We wanted to disrupt the gender-based ageism that pervades every aspect of our culture, by addressing the issue at source. We would win women’s hearts, not just their minds, by making a huge public commitment to them, whatever their age. We persuaded Vogue to do something they’ve never done before. A special edition featuring everything you would expect of Vogue: 80 pages of aspirational fashion and inspiring editorial. Except the content was entirely made by, and dedicated to, women over 50. L’Oréal put older women centre stage, in the arena where they were least visible. Our age-positive belief would be captured in the line: ‘The Non-Issue’. A rallying cry to normalise ageing and reshape our perception of it.

Describe the PR strategy (30% of vote)

Extensive global surveys revealed a perplexing truth: older women feel more confident and care less about ageing than young women, but they feel invisible. Journalist Mariella Frostrup summarised the paradox: “it has been like inhabiting two separate worlds: a tangible one filled with energetic, sexy, adventurous, hard-working and active friends in their 50s, and a wider society where neither myself nor my contemporaries seem to exist at all”. When older women disappear from our media, it sends a message to all women that growing older means becoming irrelevant. Our research showed it was also actually women aged 20-40 who feared ageing most. We would illuminate our culture’s skewed attitude to ageing by celebrating the achievements, beauty and style of women over-50. By representing women over-50, we aimed to resonate with women of every age.

Describe the PR execution (20% of vote)

Everything within ‘The Non-Issue’ challenged stereotypes and positively shaped our perception of age. Fashion and tech, life careers to new adventures. From beauty tips to advice about menopause. And every piece of advertising within the magazine normalised aging. 12 shoots 24 candid interviews 47 remarkable women 111 curated photographs 128 engaging articles Beyond articles from L’Oréal Paris’ iconic ambassadors Jane Fonda, Helen Mirren and Isabelle Adjani, ‘The Non-Issue’ celebrated a range of 50-plus women from acclaimed war correspondent Christiane Amanpour to cult comedian Jennifer Saunders. Before 250,000 copies were distributed to newsstands and subscribers in April 2019, ‘The Non-Issue’ was first teased on social via posts shared by key fashion influencers, Edward Enninful and Naomi Campbell. Getting the message into the hands, minds and hearts of women across the globe. Facebook-enabled AR codes revealed exclusive interviews that not only gave older women a face in fashion but a voice too.

List the results (30% of vote)

‘The Non-Issue’ received more coverage than Vogue’s most successful September issue starring Rihanna (31), and threw gender-based ageism into the spotlight. Its message proved impossible to ignore: • On social, ‘The Non-Issue’s’ cover was x3 more visible than the official May cover, starring Kate Moss. • Vogue attracted 40,000+ new readers in just two weeks. • With no paid media, it organically reached 3.9M people offline and 19M online. • Inspired coverage worldwide from: The Independent, Mail Online, Refinery29, The Daily Telegraph, Good Morning America, E! News, Fox News, Pravda Slovakia, 20 Minutes France, Entertainment Tonight Canada, NLCafé Hungary, Documento Greece, Universa Brazil, News Australia. The overarching objective was long-term brand building for L’Oréal. While commercial benefits of brand-building take time to show, there’s already overwhelmingly positive brand response: 90% of L’Oréal Paris social mentions during circulation were positive. The clearest indication that attitudes are changing? Vogue’s choice of June cover-star: Madonna, aged 60.