Why is this work relevant for PR?

“Born This Way” is part of a broader global Lux campaign to inspire 50 million women by 2025 to rise above everyday sexist judgements and express their femininity unapologetically. Caster was born a woman and is legally recognised as a woman but not allowed to run as a woman. We wanted to take a stand with her and rally the world to stand with us to overturn her ban. The campaign has captured global attention and raised massive support for Caster’s right to compete in the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo including discussions in the South African Parliament.

Background

Lux believes that women should not be judged for how they look and that no woman should ever be stripped of being a woman. Caster was born a woman and is legally recognised as a woman. But she's not allowed to run as a woman. Her body has been scrutinised by World Athletics, sports doctors, sports officials, fellow athletes and the public for almost 10 years. The constant judgment, speculation and medical intervention have caused her immense pain and suffering. We are championing Caster's fight for her right to run as a woman, free of drugs.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

What do Caster Semenya, Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt and Simone Biles have in common? All four athletes have extraordinary biology. For three athletes, this has meant that they could win over 100 medals across five Olympics. For Caster, it has resulted in humiliating medical examinations, cruel insults and judgment of her body and her sex; as well as a World Athletics ban from running unless she takes hormone drugs. In line with Unilever's Positive Beauty vision, Lux partnered with Caster to shine a light on her plight and champion her cause to overturn the ban. Caster was born with hyperandrogenism and as she herself often says, ‘I am a woman. I was born this way”. The idea came from the insight that most champion athletes are born with extraordinary biology. But unlike Caster, they are celebrated, not reviled or banned. This campaign dramatizes this in support of Caster‘s fight.

Describe the PR strategy (30% of vote)

Born This Way was launched as public initiative that supports women’s rights movement in sport. - We leveraged the existing editorial coverage that highlights issues surrounding female identity and biological performance in sports. - Anchored media interest around the petition and campaign #IStandWIthCaster to generate coverage to overturn the World Athletics ruling. This was supported with creative campaign assets to tell the story of LUX x Caster Semenya on her journey to compete at the Olympics. - Showcased history and global standing of Caster on the world stage as a champion, adding ‘women’s rights advocate’ to her credentials. - Got prime media to take up Caster's cause i.e Time magazine, Guardian etc to lead the story break and gather support for Caster.

Describe the PR execution (20% of vote)

“Born This Way” started with a public petition #IStandWIthCaster on Avaaz.org to overturn the World Athletics ban, followed by exclusives with top tier and trade press such as Time magazine, Guardian etc and was supported with an integrated campaign. It created waves In South Africa and across the world. Alongside that, the South African Parliament has also joined the African Human Rights Commission and other institutions to help Caster.

List the results (30% of vote)

The campaign has captured global attention and raised massive support for Caster’s right to compete in the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Caster's cause has been picked up by Time magazine, Guardian, Adage, Adweek, leading sports journals and all key South Africa media and was discussed in South Africa Parliament as well. Globally, it got 1.35B Global reach, 446M online readership, 1.6 Billion earned impressions, 679K estimated coverage views, 140 pieces of media coverage. In, South Africa, 33 pieces of media coverage, reached 81% of South Africa population. Overall, the PR value achieved is worth Euro 1 million+.