Gaming is a toxic environment, with 1 in 2 female gamers experiencing abuse online. We confronted this problem from a completely new point of view, with a campaign that called on those who WITNESS abuse to call it out. Maybelline New York’s UNDER THE AVATAR campaign raises awareness of the bystander effect where 71% OF MALE GAMERS WHO WITNESS ABUSE CHOOSE TO IGNORE IT. An eye-opening social experiment saw male gamers play a multiplayer game not knowing that the female gamers being subjected to abuse were their close friends. This content is supported with counsellor service and online resource.

The worlds of makeup and gaming don’t naturally intersect, and as such we started with a deep dive into understanding the lives of female gamers, to discover where we could play a meaningful role.

A national survey was commissioned into the level of discrimination across all genders in the Australian gaming space, which revealed 83% of female-identifying and 50% of LGBTQIA+ identifying gamers have directly experienced and/or observed offensive behaviour or language while online gaming, with most female-identifying and LGBTQIA+ identifying players admitting to turning off their microphone when playing to hide their gender and avoid harassment.

But just as shockingly the survey also found that 71% OF MALE GAMERS WHO WITNESS ABUSE CHOOSE TO IGNORE IT. This is referred to as the bystander effect.

This exposed a failure at a wider industry and societal level to support women in gaming and facilitate safe online communities free of discrimination. A toxic and misogynist environment that was preventing female-identifying players from properly engaging and having the opportunity to elevate into professional gamer roles.

As a brand whose purpose is all about GIVING PEOPLE THE CONFIDENCE TO EXPRESS THEMSELVES AND TO PLAY, we could not stand by and say nothing when our consumers were hiding themselves away to feel safe.

Together with Maybelline’s Braver Together initiative, created to help young people with mental health and anxiety, the decision was made to bring to life the brand’s purpose in the gaming space.

Maybelline New York believes that everyone should feel free to express themselves, to play and to create. A brand purpose reinforced by their long-running Brave Together platform that aims to destigmatise anxiety and depression and make support for mental health accessible for all. However, the online gaming world is one place where many don’t feel safe to express themselves due to constant targeted abuse. Research has revealed five key facts:

- 1 in 2 female gamers have experienced abuse online.

- 59% of female gamers stop to get away from offensive and discriminatory behaviour.

- More and more players are forgetting there’s a real person under the gaming character.

- 71% of male gamers who witness abuse ignore it.

- Most gamers are unsure or ill-equipped to combat in-game harassment.

Our objective was to educate and motivate male gamers to help create a safer, more respectful and inclusive gaming community.

We commissioned an Australian research survey with 600 garners to get deeper insights into the problem and the results were confronting. It was clear that action needs to be taken to protect female-identifying gamers against online abuse. The main outtake being that 71% OF MALE GAMERS WHO WITNESS ABUSE WILL IGNORE.

Our strategy was then not just to simply shine a light on an existing problem, but to amplify the silent voices on the subject matter, and create allies both male and female in the online gaming world. Further to this, we wanted to shift the conversation from being between female gamers, and place the onus on males, because if the game is truly going to change, it starts with changing their current behaviour.

We needed to target male readers, viewers and players, talking to them where they would be the most highly engaged and receptive.

We wanted to remind all gamers that behind every digital character is a real human being, so we created Under The Avatar, an emotion-provoking social campaign where male gamers were invited to test a new multiplayer game. What they didn’t know was that we were actually testing them.

Unbeknownst to them we inserted their close female friends into the same game. With the female player's permission and acknowledgement, we captured abuse and harassment hurled in their direction during gameplay. As predicted the male players stayed silent and failed to stand up to the abused gamers. The females were then revealed to the male gamers after play.

The 3-minute social experiment film, acted as a reminder that there is a real person on the other side of the game, and abuse can target a friend, partner, sister or daughter. Encouraging all male gamers to speak up instead of remaining silent.

On March 14, 2024, we broadcast the social film at a national Fortnite gaming tournament with 30 influential streamers then live-streaming it to their combined audience of over 9.5M followers. It was also shared by the experiment’s participants to their Twitch and TikTok followers creating a further organic reach of 20M+ gamers.

As well as featuring on Maybelline New York and charity organisation ReachOut’s channels, we partnered with NZ charity Youthline to integrate and implement counselling under the avatar with psychologists playing within online games renowned for high levels of toxic abuse. The service was promoted through TiKTok and Twitch, letting female players know that there was professional support available.

Lastly, through Maybelline NY’s charity partnerships ReachOut (AU) and Youthline (NZ) advice, tips and tools were provided to help young players stand up for people experiencing toxic voice chat while offering support to those who have experienced abuse.

The film was shared by over 30 influential Twitch streamers reaching 9.5M+ gamers and amassing over 45,000 viewed hours in 48 hours.

National and international media outlets shared the campaign including the GameHers, Sydney Morning Herald, national TV network Ch7, national syndicated radio SYN, NZ Herald, Pop Sugar and Fashion Journal. In total, it amassed 70M+ global impressions and an earned media reach of 25M+.

The most important outcome was connecting with male gamers. Social listening revealed a dramatic gender shift in campaign engagement in just 4 weeks:

Before: Female 72%, Male 28%

Weeks 1 - 2: Female 61%, Male 39%

Weeks 3 - 4: Female 47%, Male 53%

A common catchcry among male gamers was emerging, ‘If you see this behaviour, stand up to it’.

Maybelline Australia reached their highest sales ever for mascaras with Sky High growing +104% and breaking $1.2M, the first to do so in Australia.

There were numerous challenges in setting up a social experiment that had never been done before.

FINDING THE RIGHT FEMALE GAMERS AND THEIR MALE FRIENDS

First, we chose our female gamers, Afua and Kahlia both up-and-coming streamers with active and engaging audiences. They put forward a long list of their male gamer friends to take part without their knowledge.

KEEPING THE EXPERIMENT A SECRET FOR THE MALE GAMERS

We selected Sharkie and Benji and invited them to ‘test a new multiplayer game’ that had just come out, COD MW3 and were each set up in a contained pod.

KEEPING THE FEMALE IDENTITY HIDDEN

We used voice mod software to conceal the female gamers' voices so their friends wouldn't recognise them.

WOULD THE FEMALE GAMERS RECEIVE ABUSE

From the very first game, the abuse started coming in from the moment the female gamers spoke.

Maybelline’s UNDER THE AVATAR campaign was a compelling piece of content built off a shocking, and illuminating insight - that 71% of male gamers choose to ignore abuse targeted at females online. By bringing those to life we opened up the female gamer experience to male gamers who witness abuse from the sidelines. In doing so we started an important conversation and potentially created new allies in the fight against discrimination, evidenced by how many shared and viewed the content.

When surveyed, 56% of gamers said they welcomed companies tackling discrimination in online gaming and wanted to see more done.

Activating in the gaming space could have been seen as a disingenuous grab at a younger market, but by anchoring our approach in a rich insight, and connecting it strategically with Maybelline’s brand purpose, we started a crucial conversation to help change the game for good.