Singapore – Unilever’s global beauty brand LUX has been consistent in exercising its platform to rally against sexism, and this time, it augments its support by launching a new global training resource. The Allies e-learning programme is a learning tool targeted at the workplace setting, aiming to impart how to call out and stop bad behaviour in the workplace.
Led by Wunderman Thompson, the communications are rooted in real-life insights relevant to the audience in developing and emerging markets that LUX serves. The new course called ‘LUX Allies Against Workplace Sexism’ is said to have been designed together with a DE&I behaviour change expert to help counter sexism in the workplace. Furthermore, it was created specifically for emerging markets where patriarchal values and the traditional mindset about gender roles are entrenched in society.
Severine Vauleon, global brand lead at LUX, said, “Beauty can be a powerful source of strength and self-confidence for women. At the workplace in particular, confidence and self-belief can make a huge difference in a woman’s job satisfaction and career trajectory.”
“As a brand that touches the lives of millions of women worldwide, we want to be an enabler that supports women’s confidence and authenticity to thrive, rather than see them self-edit and wither. As such, we will continue to help women everywhere fight casual sexism especially related to their experience, at home, in the workplace and in wider society.”
The ‘LUX Allies Against Workplace Sexism’ programme is structured as three module pillars – AWARE, ACT, and ALLY. It confronts participants with everyday scenarios in the workplace where women may face casual sexist remarks from colleagues – whether male or female – and gives simple yet effective actions to call out these belittling comments.
To further drive home the agenda, LUX worked with organisational and behavioural scientist and indigenous rights advocate, Matthew J Yazzie, who specialises in workplace discrimination. Yazzie played a pivotal role in creating the content schedule for the modules. Part of them is him shedding light on casual sexism.
The modules use short-form videos to highlight seemingly casual remarks that disempower individuals based on gender stereotypes and share how simple yet effective actions to call out belittling comments can make a difference.
Nicolas Tran Dinh, global digital & masterbrand lead at LUX, shares, “Women, just like men, want to live in a world where they have equal opportunities to be their best selves. The first step in reducing the pressures of everyday sexism that women face starts with us. We must be more aware of our actions and be allies rather than bystanders to support women to rise above daily judgements. This is how we can build a world where men and women are celebrated equally and why we are providing this training as a free resource for all companies.”
Echoing his comments, Hinoti Joshi, global business director from Wunderman Thompson, Singapore, who leads LUX communications, adds, “This is the next step in our Purpose journey towards our end goal of putting an end to everyday sexism. WT APAC and Unilever staff will be actively using it as part of our training to help empower and inspire a community of women and allies to speak up and hold their truth for their beliefs.”
Anyone can access the Allies programme at no charge via LUX’s website and complete the modules to be a certified ‘ally’ against sexism.
Previously, LUX launched campaigns under its social inclusivity advocacy, the “In Her Shoes” and ‘UNSTOPPABLE” campaigns. In the past, the brand also released the ‘Finding Strength in Beauty’ 2021 whitepaper which shared data showing how discrimination against women continues to be prevalent in different forms.
