Cutwater launched a “#StrengthHasNoGender” campaign for Brawny in honor of Women’s History Month (that would be March).
The anthem ad “Breaking Barriers” spotlights a series of barrier-shattering women throughout history, including Harriet Tubman, Susan B. Anthony and Marie Curie. A voiceover announces that every time such a barrier is broken, “women prove strength has no gender,” as the tagline appears onscreen.
More engaging is the digital series documenting less well-known barrier-breaking women, such as Vernice Armour, the first black female fighter pilot in the U.S. Marine Corps who dons the brand’s trademark flannel in the spot. Armour describes how she knew her life had changed when she first learned that the Pentagon had been attacked. She became an officer in 1998 and it wasn’t until she walked in to the ready room for the first time that she even realized her pioneering status. “Today there’s no way you can take women out of the fabric of the Marine Corps,” she concludes, “because our military is stronger with women in it.”
The spot concludes with the lines “#StrengthHasNoGender” and the message “Stay Giant.”
Other ads in the series highlight the accomplishments of Dr. Anna Kornbrot, the first female student to graduate from her Ivy League college, Brittany Wenger, the self-taught coder who invented The Cloud 4 Cancer program to diagnose breast cancer and Dr. Patty Lopez, a datacenter engineer who has been awarded seven patents.
The campaign will also feature a notable packaging component and a $75,000 donation to Girls Inc., which encourages girls to pursue STEM degrees and careers.
“The biggest, most courageous piece of it was, we are going to put a woman on these packages and make them available for everyone. I always think it’s fun when packaged goods clients are hip enough to change something and offer something special, kind of like when Coke put names on its cans,” Cutwater CCO Chuck McBride told Adweek.
Credits:
Agency – Cutwater
Chief Creative Officer – Chuck McBride
Associate Creative Director – Aaron Sanchez
Art Director – Nathan Lewis
Art Director – Rebecca Schefkind
Copywriter – Jay Brockmeier
Executive Producer – Michael Huntley
Content Producer – Robbie Weidie
Producer – Kimberly Grear
President, Principal – Christian Hughes
Group Account Director – Coleen Karkazis
Account Director – Greer Gonerka
Client: Brawny® – Georgia-Pacific, LLC
Gary Gastel – Senior Brand Director
Shari Neumann – Senior Director, Content Lead
Santiago Arboleda – Director, Brand Building Leader
Frances Morgan – Senior Brand Manager
Joel Potts – Senior Associate Brand Manager
Breaking Barriers Credits
Scheme Engine – Production Company
Executive Producer – Sheira Rees-Davies
Producer – Cisco Newman
Director – James Larese
DP – Sing Howe Yam
Triggr & Bloom – Post Company
Color & VFX – Triggr & Bloom
Post Producer – Monica Blackburn
Editor – James Larese
Interview Video Credits
Mat Guido – Blast
Director – Alison Klayman
Line Producer – Dana Popoff
Editorial Company – Beast
Editor – Doug Walker
Color – Dave Burghardt
Executive Producer – Jon Ettinger
Assistant – Seth Andrews