Every March 8th for the past 100 years, International Women’s Day has been celebrated around the world. With the turbulent uprisings in the Middle East and global economic unrest, International Women’s Day is more relevant than ever. Thanks to social media marketing and a little help from James Bond this year’s celebration is garnering some big-time headlines.
Equals, a UK charity partnership lead by Annie Lennox, released a special digital film campaign for International Women’s Day with serious star power. The film is narrated by Oscar winner Dame Judi Dench and features her James Bond co-star Daniel Craig. Dench rattles off some statistics about domestic violence and pay inequality that especially shock in modern times like ours before posing the question to a silent, smug-looking Craig, “For someone with such a fondness for women, I wonder if you’ve ever considered what it means to be one?” Craig then appears in the movie in a dress and a blonde wig.
The film is being shown online and in theaters today in the UK in celebration of International Women’s Day. Equals hopes a macho star like Craig in its ads will drive home the point that inequality affects everyone.
“We feel it is crucial to involve men in the movement for women’s rights and Equals is about men and women working together for positive change” says a spokesperson for the partnership.
Elsewhere, the Internet and social media are being used to promote the holiday around the globe. Artist and designer Kinda Hibrawi has partnered with American Friends of UNRWA’s Adopt a School Program. Of Syrian descent, Hibrawi has released t-shirts featuring the words peace, beauty, love and justice written in Arabic. 25% of all online sales go to UNRWA in a program they call “Buy a tee, Help a Refugee.” Hibrawi’s design as well as the partnering charity creates a perfect gift for the holiday which helps women currently affected the most by inequality issues.
Lastly, we couldn’t help but smile when we saw this photo of Air India’s all-female crew, one of 13 which will be flying today in celebration of International Women’s Day. Air India currently employs 157 pilots and has more than 5,300 women employees on its payroll. The brand’s pride in its female employees stretches far beyond the reaches of just March 8th. Last year, Air India celebrated a milestone in civil aviation when it launched the first Mumbai to New York flight by having an all-women crew on board.
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