White Ribbon is the world’s largest movement of men working to promote a heathier vision of masculinity. With violence against women, sadistic school hazings, and other abhorrent behavior reaching crisis levels the world over, White Ribbon felt it was paramount to examine the roots of toxic masculinity.

We created a film that ponders what boys are allowed to feel. The film highlights how there is no single cause of toxic masculinity—instead, a litany of moments where boys and young men are forced to bottle their emotions and cling to archaic notions of manliness.

Research shows that, as infants, boys are allowed to express a wide range of emotions. As they grow older, masculinity is defined in narrower terms and social norms dictate that “real men” show little to no emotion. Open a newspaper on any given day, and you’ll realize this can have tragic consequences later in life. To create a healthier, more positive masculinity that benefits everyone, our film needed to explore the roots of this toxic behaviour and how we all play a guilty role. At the same time, White Ribbon needed to walk a fine line, so that men would be open to a discussion about toxic masculinity and how to prevent it.

To spark debate and create the most engagement, we timed the launch of the film to Canada’s National Anti-Bullying Day. With a zero-dollar media budget, “Boys Don’t Cry” quickly became a feature story on every single national network in Canada.

150 stories globally created 66 million impressions on launch day, and we dominated the conversation on Anti-Bullying Day with 11 million social impressions. Revered professional sports teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs shared it with millions of their fans, and the mayors of Toronto, Ottawa and Calgary shared the film on their social channels. Even notable anti-bullying advocate, Monica Lewinsky, supported the film, drawing global coverage to it. The film is now being used as a teaching tool in schools across Canada.