WHAT CAN PANTENE DO TO TRANSFORM THE SOCIETY THROUGH HAIR?

Japan is still lagging behind on the awareness of gender and sexual diversity, and the majority of the LGBTQ community still suffer from prejudice. This is even worse when job hunting. LGBTQ job-hunters have to conceal their gender identity in interviews. A time when they need to be the most comfortable with themselves.

Pantene is the brand that believes in the power of great hair. Great hair propels women to step forward to express their true selves. Under an umbrella #HairWeGo, Pantene Japan has helped every Japanese woman dare to be true to themselves. As the brand that celebrates difference and identity, what can Pantene do to change the job-hunting scene in Japan? Transforming it to a place where everyone is free to express their true self, through their hair.

SOCIETY WHERE DESCRIMINATION AND PREJUDICE TOWARDS LGBTQ ARE PREVALENT.

Japan’s LGBTQ population is larger than many other countries – it is estimated that 8.9% of population is LGBTQ. However, the awareness on gender and sexual diversity is still lagging behind the rest of the world, and the majority of the LGBTQ community still suffer from prejudice. Discriminatory remarks against LGBTQ by politicians and corporate executives continue to heard. Such as “LGBTQ people are not productive” by one of the members of National Diet, and “If all Japanese women were lesbian or all Japanese men were gay, then do you think the next generation of people will be born?" by an assembly member for Tokyo's Adachi Ward. Also, legislation advocating for LGBTQ rights such as same sex marriage or acknowledgement of children between LGBTQ couples, is also ignored or avoided.

#PRIDEHAIR – A CALL OUT FROM TRANSGENDER EX-JOB HUNTERS AS FIRST-EVER ROLE MODELS.

Pantene introduced two transgender ex-job hunters, who called out to the next generation of job-hunters. “Male or Female, which should I do my job-hunting as?” – while most job-hunters worried about their career path, they had to worry about their gender. Sharing their unimaginable struggles and the experiences they overcame that only they would know. These first-ever role model stories gave LGBTQ and even non-LGBTQ job-hunters the courage and pride to express their true selves and let the hair stand out where blending in is the norm.

JOB HUNTERS HAVE TO HIDE THEIR GENDER IDENTITY

Deep-seated prejudice stands in the way especially when job-hunting. 87% of LGBTQ job-hunters hide their gender identity in job interviews, because 70% of them fear of discrimination and prejudice. For job hunters in general, a job interview is where they have to express themselves for their dream jobs, but for LGBTQ job hunters, it is where they have to hide their true selves.

IT’S PERSONAL STORIES, NOT DATA

What can we do to make society aware of the truth? We met two former job-hunters. One is a trans man who, after a year of wondering whether he should job-hunt as a man or a woman, did job-hunting as a woman with ponytail. The other was a trans woman who was true to her gender in job-hunting with her long hair. Their true stories would inspire both companies and next generation LGBTQ job-hunters.

#PRIDEHAIR WAS LAUNCHED NATIONWIDE

Pantene #PrideHair is executed through TVC and YouTube video, in which two transgender ex-job hunters, one is Female-to-Male who hid his gender identity in job-hunting, and the other is Male-to-Female who revealed her gender identity. They confessed their struggles and pride in the next generation of job-hunters, aiming to increase awareness on the current issues faced by the LGBTQ job hunters who suffer from prejudice in the job-hunting scene in Japan.

THE IMPACT GOES BEYOND JOB SEEKERS TO HAIR SALONS NATIONWIDE RESPONDED TO #PRIDEHAIR.

To ensure the movement changed society beyond just a piece of one-off content, Pantene launched the “#PrideHair Salon” project with an aim to increase LGBTQ-friendly hair salons. We created customer service guidelines and educated salons on LGBTQ awareness. So that now LGBTQ people from all over Japan are able to obtain a hairstyle that represents their true selves.

20 MILLION VIEWS IN 1 WEEK

The video achieved over 20 million views just in 1 week from launch, receiving an overwhelmingly positive reaction (95% of the YouTube comments were positive). Featured by over 210 media nationwide, #PrideHair earned over 1.3 billion media impressions, and social media engagements exceeded 300MM. Twitter quotes include, “This ad can’t, and shouldn’t, be skipped,” “#PrideHair is creating a new era,” “The campaign goes above and beyond simply slapping a rainbow on a corporate logo.”

OVER 1,000 SALONS NATIONWIDE JOINED #PRIDEHAIR SALON

More than 1,100 hair salons nationwide have joined in #PrideHair Salon project, and the number of salons is still increasing.

CERTIFIED LGBTQ-FRIENDLY COMPANIES INCREASED

Furthermore, the number of companies that meet the criteria for the Pride Index, an index of LGBTQ-friendly companies conducted by a non-profit organization Work With Pride, increased to 233 companies from 194 the previous year.