Our Watch's Trojan sneaker ad is looking to eradicate traditional male stereotypes and educate society that there is no one type of man.
Our Watch and Thinkerbell have joined forced to a Trojan sneaker ad to promote healthy masculinity.
Our Watch is an organisation established to drive nationwide change in the culture, beahviours and power imbalances that lead to violence against women and children. Its latest campaign aims to eradicate toxic masculinity.
“Repressing emotions, using aggression to gain respect or disrespecting women and girls to be considered ‘cool’, are just some of the rigid expectations men and boys are often socialised to demonstrate,” Our Watch director of marketing and communications Siobhan McCann says.
“In order to help young men challenge society's rigid expectations of masculinity, Our Watch’s youth campaign, The Line, has launched ‘Never follow’ – a campaign that shows that there is no one way to be a man.”
Recognising that young men, in particular, don’t like being told what to think, The Line has adopted the look, feel and tone of a streetwear brand to house the message within a Trojan sneaker ad – the type of advertising they genuinely seek out and interact with.
From the pressure to act tough and hide emotions to fit in, to the pressure to engage in activities that objectify women - the animation shows a hero character rejecting all of these traditional stereotypes of what it means to be man. Instead he walks his own path, as his own person.
"By using streetwear as a Trojan horse for a more meaningful message, the campaign circumvents resistance and instead prompts users to step forward and actively engage with the concept of what masculinity means to them,” Thinkerbell's Adam Ferrier says.
Integrated into the campaign is the opportunity for viewers to claim a free pair of the limited edition, campaign-exclusive Volley sneakers shown in the ad by answering a question about what ‘there’s no one way to be a man’ means to them.
The campaign will roll out across social and digital channels as well as cinema.
