Discrimination against women in the workplace is still a serious problem in Japan. Most Japanese companies require job applicants to specify their gender and age, and attach a photo to their résumé. Although the photo requirement may seem odd to people in the West, it is accepted practice in Japan, and virtually 100% of job applicants comply. Lux and Unilever are leading an effort to end this practice and eliminate discrimination against women in job recruitment.

According to the Gender Gap Index published annually by the World Economic Forum, Japan ranked 121st out of 153 countries in 2020, with an index of 0.652 that was the lowest of all developed nations. Discrimination against women is particularly entrenched in the workplace, abetted by companies that seek to hire “attractive” women as support staff for their predominantly male workforce.

Since Lux is best known in Japan for “Damage Care” hair-care products aimed at women, our creative idea was to introduce the “Lux Social Damage Care Project,” an initiative aimed at addressing the larger social issues that women face. As a first step, we announced the project in bold newspaper ads.

We placed the ads in the Nikkei, a financial newspaper that is widely read by Japanese industry leaders, most of whom are men. The ad’s simple and powerful message was timed to appear just as Japanese companies were starting their annual job recruiting drive for new university graduates.

One page advertisement was executed on the Nikkei News Paper nationwide on the 6th of March 2020.

The impact of the ads’ message extended well beyond newspaper media, triggering discussions on TV programs and social networks with an organic reach estimated at more than 14.3 million. But even more importantly, the ads gave voice to the hope for a more equitable society that is inspiring a new generation to shape the future of Japan.