Always #LikeAGirl

The Always #LikeAGirl journey began in 2014, as Always set about to tackle the things society were doing that could harm a young girl’s confidence at puberty. Six iterations later, #LikeAGirl has gone from a simple phrase to an empowering movement.

2014: Always #LikeAGirl

The first iteration demonstrated the profound negative effect the use of the phrase #LikeAGirl as an insult had on girls’ self-confidence. It showed how many of us are unwittingly part of the problem and more importantly, encouraged all of us to be part of the solution.

2015: Unstoppable #LikeAGirl

When a new study revealed that 72% of girls felt society limited them, and more than half felt that societal limitations would be the same or worse in ten years time², Always' encouraged girls to smash limitations and be unstoppable #LikeAGirl.

Through powerful imagery, Always showed girls knocking down the biases society holds against them, tackling the perception that girls can’t be brave, or strong, or smart.

2016: #LikeAGirl: Girl Emojis

Playing princesses, getting your nails done, dancing in bunny ears – is this a true representation of all the things that girls can do?

Of course not! But back in 2016, that’s what girl emojis looked like. To tackle these subtle biases, Always launched our Girl Emoji campaign. The resulting conversation led the UNICODE Consortium, the emoji makers, to release 44 new girl power emojis – now incorporated into mobile operating systems worldwide.

2016: Keep Playing #LikeAGirl

When Always learnt that half of girls quit sports during puberty⁴, despite data showing that playing sports can build confidence, we knew we had to do something! We took the issue center stage – and launched a new campaign that coincided with the Olympic Games Rio 2016.

The campaign garnered the support of over 30 Olympic athletes, and after seeing it 70% were convinced that girls would be more confident if they played sports⁵.

To learn more about our more recent work to support girls in sports, click here.

2017: Keep Going #LikeAGirl

During puberty, 50% of girls feel paralyzed by the fear of failure, with a majority feeling that societal pressure to be perfect drives this fear of failure³.

Always set about to change that, knowing that failure, and persevering through it, is critical to learning new skills and improving confidence. With a film that showcased the benefits girls get from perservering, and stories from celebrities and influencers, Always rallied society to encourage girls to keep going!

Source:

¹ Online survey, 1300 females aged 16-24, U.S., Research Now ’14
² Online survey, 1000 females aged 16-24, U.S., Research Now ’15
³ Online survey, 1000 females aged 16-24, U.S., Research Now ‘17
⁴ Online survey, 1867 females aged 18+, U.S., One Poll ‘21
⁵ Online survey, 1000 females aged 16-24, U.S., Research Now ‘16