Despite being a Father's Day campaign, its main objective was to correct a gender injustice: the difference in parental leave days. In Brazil, women are entitled to 120 days, while men have only 5 days. The consequences of this discrepancy in the duration of both leaves result in disadvantages for mothers: overload of responsibility for the child, difficulty in maintaining employment or returning to the workforce, social isolation, etc. With a campaign initiating a debate about extended leave for fathers, we took a first and relevant step to correct this structural injustice.

In Brazil is not much different from most other countries when it comes to gender inequality. Men are still expected to succeed in their careers while women are expected to take care of the family and the home. This is reflected in the parental leave law: women have 120 days, and men have only 5. The disparities in employment, pay, and leadership are not simply the result of historical discrimination, cultural bias, or individual choices – they are directly driven by laws and policies – or the lack thereof – that reinforce gender stereotypes. An indirect result of this situation is that, in Brazil, two years after taking maternity leave, almost half of women are out of the job market, according to a study by FGV.

In Brazil, the law guarantees 120 days of work leave for mothers and only 5 days for fathers. Both laws were created in 1988 and have remained unchanged since then. This discrepancy is so normalized in Brazilian society that the journalistic media (newspapers, radio, TV news, and portals) companies and society in general simply did not talk about the topic. However, O Boticário is one of the few companies that offers a 120-day leave for fathers - matching the amount of time allocated to mothers. With the aim of extending this benefit to as many fathers as possible, the brand seized Father's Day to initiate a debate on extended paternity leave in the country.

Just like in most of countries, in Brazil, women also end up receiving from society a much greater responsibility to care for the child than men. This is reflected in the parental leave law, which grants 120 days for women and only 5 for men, implicitly suggesting that women have more responsibilities regarding their children than men. This discrepancy, along with several others, puts women at a disadvantage compared to men in the job market, in mental health care, social life, and so on. Furthermore, the change in the law to increase the days of paternity leave simply wasn't being discussed in the country at all. Neither by the press, nor by other companies, nor by Congress. Until O Boticário's campaign was launched.

Despite the Brazilian laws, O Boticário, Brazil’s top beauty brand, guarantees the same 120 days of parental leave for mothers and fathers alike. So, on Father’s Day, the brand decided to sell a cause rather than products. We launched a campaign with the aim of sparking a debate in society about the importance of paternal presence in the first days of a newborn child. The campaign was launched with a film featuring a father spending his first 5 days with his baby. When it comes to the 6th day, it abruptly cuts to the father working at an office. At the end, a lettering that reads “Let’s talk about parental leaving?” invited people to debate the subject. The brand was beyond the speech giving lectures about the issue, creating a supply to help other companies, CEOs, and HR departments adopt extended parental leave and opening its channels to answer questions.

The first step was to ensure an idea that captured the attention not only of the general public but also of politicians and professionals from others companies, such as Human Resources directors and CEOs, to make them reflect on the gap in parental leave time between men and women (a difference of 115 days, in this case). The second step was to think about the pieces and actions that would complement the film and extend the conversation so that it would not lose traction and relevance. Furthermore, since the campaign was exclusively run on social media, we ensured special monitoring to identify and address comments regarding the campaign and the impacts of extended paternity leave on reducing gender inequality.

The creative execution featured a film showing a father spending his first 5 days with his baby. On the 6th day, it abruptly cuts to the father working at an office. At the end, the text appears reading, “For how long will we think 5 days is enough?” Following this, another caption appears saying, “Let’s talk about parental leave,” inviting people to discuss the subject. The second step was to provide a guide to help HR departments, entrepreneurs, and companies adopt extended parental leave. After all, we complement this campaign through posts, lectures by O Boticário employees, open company channels for questions, and monitoring the repercussions of the topic on social media to amplify the conversation.

With 6 draft bills pledging extended parental leave in Congress the campaign achieved one of its main goals, which was to give a step towards a real change in reducing gender inequality. It was also the most talked-about Father's Day campaign of the year in Brazil, bringing a debate that was practically nonexistent to homes, social media, the press, and even other companies. In fact, international brands such as Mastercard, Volvo, and Amazon, in addition to major Brazilian companies like the financial sector startup Nubank. O Boticário became the beauty brand most associated with supporting gender equality Impressions: 516 million | Reach: 96 million | Online channels visits: 1.8 million. Over 200 companies are using our guide to implemente 120 days od paternity leave as a policy.

Our expectation with this campaign is to encourage more fathers to spend additional time with their newborns, thereby sharing child-rearing responsibilities with women and reducing a series of structural injustices that disproportionately burden mothers. These injustices include the unequal distribution of childcare responsibilities, challenges in reentering the job market, and a lack of emotional support, among others. To achieve this goal, we are pursuing two ongoing paths. Firstly, we are maintaining communication with other companies that have implemented extended paternity leave policies. We are pleased to report that progress is underway, with hundreds of companies engaging in discussions and expressing interest in adopting extended paternity leave. Secondly, we are advocating for extended paternity leave to become law. Currently, six bills addressing this issue are under consideration in Congress. We hope to see one of these bills approved soon, paving the way for positive change.