The Campaign

‘MY CRAYON PROJECT’ is an initiative designed to educate Japanese kids about diversity, with a little help from an unlikely tool: a crayon. Partnering with primary schools, along with a boutique crayon manufacturer in Japan, a box of crayons was created - each crayon matching precisely the ‘hada-iro’ of each child in the classroom. The crayons were presented to the children, much to their delight. They were then asked to draw themselves, and each other, with their new crayons. The process was documented and the film is now being presented to schools across Japan, inviting them to participate in the same experience. To date, six schools have signed up to the initiative, with more being planned throughout 2018.

Creative Execution

The experience takes place over a two hour period with Morals class and Art class combined to accommodate a workshop. It begins with a Shiseido representative sharing the film and introducing the session. The ‘hada-iro’ of each child was then detected with a special device used by skin scientists in Shiseido’s skin research department. This skin analyzer can detect the subtle colors and hue differences of every human being living on Earth. Each child has their skin scanned, to reveal to themselves (and others) that their skin color is unique. Following this, each child receives a crayon that represents their one and only ‘hada-iro’. The kids then draw portraits of themselves, then to better understand others, they swap crayons with another child before drawing each other.

Results

To date, six schools have signed up to the CSR initiative, with more being planned throughout 2018. Primarily the program was designed for elementary school children. Since launching however, both junior and high schools throughout the country are reaching out to Shiseido, and further workshops are under way. All of the children that participated understood the importance of diversity and respecting one another. “Everybody has their own Hada-iro that was a discovery” “I’m surprised there are 70 billion shades!” “I now know that my Hada-iro is special and the only one in the world.” “The common sense I had for Hada-iro has collapsed, in a good way.” “The differences make is unique and that is what we need to respect.” Were just some of the comments gathered from the children that participated.

As experts in skin, Shiseido believe it’s their responsibility to help educate Japanese children about diversity: specifically, the importance of understanding and respecting others’ differences, no matter how big or small those differences might be. Rather than express this view through traditional communications, they opted to take their message directly to children themselves, with a unique in-classroom experience. The schools that have collaborated so far have changed their curriculum to combine their Morals class and Art class together to welcome this new two hour activation by Shiseido.

To be meaningful and relevant, the initiative needed to be real. This meant finding a way of engaging schools and proving the idea’s value. A ‘pilot’ workshop was developed then documented in the form of a 2 minute film which was then used to engage other schools in the initiative. Once schools were engaged, the workshop format was further developed in collaboration between the school leaders, Shiseido and the agency.