New Gillette Venus Global Survey Reveals 70% of Women Have Been Labeled by a Stereotype as Young as 10 Years Old; Almost Half Say Labels Have Had a Negative Effect on Their Lives

BOSTON, January 8, 2015 /3BL Media/ - A new Global Survey by Gillette Venus reveals that most women around the world (70%) have felt labeled by others. Those labels can be assigned as young as 10 years old and nearly half of those surveyed say those labels have had a negative effect on their lives (43%). Despite the advances of women in the work place and home, the survey shows that girls still feel being labeled affects their self-perception and life choices.

In response Gillette Venus – the world leader in female shaving – is launching today the “Use Your And” campaign to inspire women and girls to stand-up against one-dimensional labels, encouraging them to #UseYourAnd and unleash the innate potential inside all women.

As part of the campaign, Gillette Venus is releasing the new “AND Stand” video to spark a global conversation and inspire women to use their ANDs – all of the qualities, attributes and characteristics that make a woman who she is. The video features real women telling personal stories of lost potential stemming from labels, set against a re-mastered recording of the iconic ‘She’s Got It’ song.

“We created this campaign based on what we were hearing from women. They feel that beauty brands tend to focus only on singular dimensions of women - either Super Model or Super Mom - when, in fact, most women are a fabulous mix of everything in between,” said Charlene Patten, Gillette Venus Global Brand Franchise Leader. “Women are limited by one-dimensional labels from a very young age, which leads to significant loss of potential. For example, if she’s labeled pretty, it is assumed she can’t be smart so she behaves accordingly. At Gillette Venus, we believe that all women have the right to achieve their full potential by embracing their ‘ANDs’ and not be limited by any ‘ORs’,” said Patten.

Gillette Venus is partnering with Claudia Chan, Founder of S.H.E. Summit Global Conference & Women’s Empowerment Expert, to educate women in identifying their stereotypical labels and support them to use their ANDs.Claudia's expertise lies in making empowerment and mentorship available to all women with the belief that if women realize their potential, they will change the world. Women can visit www.GilletteVenus.com/ to access Claudia’s exclusive tips, tools and advice.

"Words are powerful and that’s why I’m so excited to partner with Gillette Venus to eliminate stereotypes and single-minded labels and help women realize their personal potential," said Chan. "The first step is to help women become aware of how they might have been labeled in different life phases, and how that may have limited them. In my work, women around the world have shared with me how they have been held back in their career or overall confidence, and often the limiting factor was a label they received as a young girl.”

Through the “Use Your And” campaign, Gillette Venus invites women and girls to recognize their potential and embrace their unique and extraordinary qualities. Several social media executions will enable women to share stories on how they #UseYourAnd and the way they stand against labels that limit their potential to inspire others across the globe.
 

Key Survey Findings
The Global Labels Survey conducted by Wakefield Research for Gillette Venus also uncovered:

• Labeling/Stereotyping starts young and in school: The majority of women (70%) surveyed around the world first felt constrained by stereotypes or labels as early as 10 years old, reporting their classmates as the top group of people (67%) who have given them a label
   
• Women who’ve been labeled before more frequently label others: More women frequently label others who have been labeled themselves (62%) vs. women who have never been labeled (34%)

Survey Methodology
The Gillette Venus Global Labels Research Survey was conducted by Wakefield Research (www.wakefieldresearch.com) among 500 women ages 16-45 in each of 9 countries, between October 24th and November 10th, 2014, using an email invitation and an online survey, for a total of 4,500 respondents. Quotas have been set to ensure reliable and accurate representation of women ages 16-45 in all 9 countries.

Results of any sample are subject to sampling variation. The magnitude of the variation is measurable and is affected by the number of interviews and the level of the percentages expressing the results. For each country, the chances are 95 in 100 that a survey result does not vary, plus or minus, by more than 4.4 percentage points from the result that would be obtained if interviews had been conducted with all persons in the universe represented by the sample.

About Procter & Gamble
P&G serves nearly five billion people around the world with its brands. The Company has one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Always®, Ambi Pur®, Ariel®, Bounty®, Charmin®, Crest®, Dawn®, Downy®, Fairy®, Febreze®, Gain®, Gillette®, Head & Shoulders®, Lenor®, Olay®, Oral-B®, Pampers®, Pantene®, SK-II®, Tide®, Vicks®, Wella® and Whisper®. The P&G community includes operations in approximately 70 countries worldwide. Please visit http://www.pg.com for the latest news and in-depth information about P&G and its brands.