2016 Winners


SILVER: Niche Strategy

Penningtons

#iwontcompromise

lg2

Being overweight has a serious social stigma and many plus-size Canadians suffer from low self-esteem triggered by an environment that constantly reinforces an undesirable perception in very direct and subtle ways. Their weight is the centre of the attention and their size portrays a negative image of themselves.

Penningtons aims to offer fashion products that make plus-size women feel their best and so it decided break the social stigma around plus-size Canadians.

People often perceive plus-size woman as fat people who eat junk food, who eat too much of it, and who don't tend to move much. To break the stigma, Penningtons needed to break judgment by making people aware of how heavy their fat-shaming words, gestures, looks and even thoughts weigh on plus-size people's self-esteem.

The brand and Lg2 used a clickbait-approach, creating a video entitled "Why Plus-Size Women Shouldn't Do Yoga."

Inspired by online conversations revealing the widespread prejudice that plus-size women are overweight because they are not active, the offensive took the form of a one-of-a-kind yoga video.

It featured a bad-ass overweight yogi who deconstructs the prejudice shot by shot. The video then invites plus-size women to not compromise and to practice whatever activities they want, with no fear of the prejudice toward them.

Thousands of plus-size women felt empowered and inspired by the brand's message. The campaign reached 30 million people, and tracked 18.6 million views and 2 million engagements. The video received a23% view rate. Celebrities such as Ashton Kutcher and Melissa McCarthy shared the campaign, and it received coverage by top-tier Canadian and international media such as Cosmopolitan, People and Chatelaine. More importantly, Penningtons' yoga brand, ActiveWear, saw its entire new collection sell out in less than a week, even though there was no specific mention of Penningtons' product in the video.

Credits:

Advertiser: Penningtons

Agency: lg2

Strategic planning: Anne-Marie Leclair

Social and digital strategy : Sabrina Côté

CD: François Sauvé

AD/Copywriter: Valérie Wells, Marie-Ève Leclerc Dion

Account services: Martine Gérgoire, Marie-Ève Despars

Média planning and strategy: OMD

Broadcast production house: La Cavalerie

For submission inquiries, please contact Clare O'Brien at cobrien@brunico.com.
For partnership inquiries, please contact Neil Ewen at newen@brunico.com.