The Handmaid’s Tale is Hulu’s multi-Emmy-winning US drama set in a dystopian society that treats women as property.

Upon its release in 2017, the show was an immediate hit and its themes of gender injustice resonated with an American public eager for social change – reflected in 2017’s inaugural Women’s March, the largest single-day protest in US history.

By 2019, social conversation about women’s rights had lost some momentum and turnout for the Women’s March was lower than expected.

Fans of The Handmaid’s Tale were similarly disenchanted. While the show had helped to raise awareness of female repression, very little had changed and supporters were losing hope. Social listening revealed that while they loved the show’s themes, they wanted to see more change in society.

To make season three of The Handmaid’s Tale a success, we needed to deliver ACTION for women’s rights while raising awareness of the season premiere.

A key theme of The Handmaid’s Tale is that “History is written by those who tell it”. In American history, that narrative has been written almost entirely by men. Exemplified by the fact that less than 8% of all statues and monuments in the US are of women.

Statues and monuments have the power to lift spirits. They are erected to permanently honor the achievements of previous generations and provide role models for new generations. So the impact America’s inspirational women have had on history was nearly invisible.

In New York City, the numbers were even worse. There are 145 statues of men around the city, but just five of women. There were more statues of animals and cannons than women.

This gave us our creative idea. While we couldn’t change history, we could give women the chance to see a new future for America – with them in it.

For one day, during the week of The Handmaid’s Tale season three premiere, we would place 140 new female statues in New York City – to equal the existing 145 statues of men.

The twist? All of the statues would be mirrors, meaning that, for the first time, women would see someone like themselves celebrated with a statue – a symbolic gesture that would inspire them to take ACTION. We would support the activation with digital and social activity, highlighting our shocking statistics of misrepresentation, and look for earned media coverage on national news outlets.

It was time for America to help women see a more equal future.

We placed our mirrored statues in Flatiron Plaza, a location guaranteed to generate footfall and visibility.

From a distance, our mirrored statues looked invisible (dramatizing just how fleeting women’s representation can be). Walk closer though, and you would see your own reflection – or, symbolically, your own potential – looking back at you. Our statues were styled as abstract silhouettes, representing all shapes and sizes of women.

Each statue had a plaque that explained how underrepresented women are in society and finished with a powerful message: “History is shaped by those who tell it. Create the future you want to see,” alerting readers to The Handmaid’s Tale season three premiere.

Sponsored content on CNN’s social channels and an interactive online map showing the locations of all the statues in NYC promoted out content.

On Women’s Equality Day, we installed similar ‘missing’ statues in Atlanta, San Francisco and Boston.

Viewership of The Handmaid’s Tale season three was 40% higher than S2 and 50% greater than S1. Our activation drove 20% more Hulu signups than each previous season.

We generated over 7 billion social impressions – the most of any Hulu property, ever.

This included earned buzz in global media, including FastCompany, Forbes, Dazed and more.

Social conversations peaked during the activation with nearly double that of the S2 peak and x2.5 the number of even the trailer launch.

The campaign has prompted REAL ACTION. In August 2020, Central Park unveiled its first statue in the area’s 168-year history honouring women – a 14-foot tall bronze monument depicting pioneers in the fight for women’s rights.

Our statues will now be housed permanently in Los Angeles, in hope of inspiring the next generation of women to re-write history and secure statues of their own.