The latest iteration of Pantene’s #BeautifuLGBTQ+ campaign encourages real LGBTQ+ representation and self-expression through hair in marketing and advertising.

For many in the LGBTQ+ community hair is more than how you look - it’s how you’re seen. A haircut or style is a powerful tool for self-expression and gives people confidence to be their true selves. However, while hair plays such a critical role in how this community expresses itself, it's often depicted in a stereotypical way, which can lead to bias. This is especially true for how hair shows up across marketing & advertising.

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Image from #StyleWithPride Gallery (Photo: Business Wire)

Pantene understands the importance of real, authentic representation for the LGBTQ+ community in marketing and advertising. That is why they’ve collaborated with Getty Images’ Custom Content photographers from around the world as part of the launch of #StyleWithPride, the latest iteration of their ongoing #BeautifuLGBTQ+ campaign.

Representation of the LGBTQ+ community has made major strides in popular culture, especially in arenas like film, television, and music. Yet, brands and agencies still lag the mainstream media in representing LGBTQ+ people in their advertising and brand communications. In fact, less than 1% of the most popular visuals at Getty Images feature an LGBTQ+ person and when they are included, those depictions are often stereotypical or one-dimensional. Outward expressions of identity including physical appearance, choices of clothing and sense of style, and even hair types, haircuts and hair colors can be an essential component of affirming identity for many LGBTQ+ people. Stereotypes that adhere to the gender binary or heteronormativity, exclude the diverse self-expressions of LGBTQ+ community from today’s advertising and can have a profound impact on their experiences out in the world.

Pantene is dedicated to making the LGBTQ+ community feel beautiful and represented by offering an authentic picture, literally, of how they uniquely are. In our latest campaign we’ll celebrate the range of styles used to express oneself by collaborating with Getty Images’ Custom Content photographers to create a gallery of authentic representation across all LGBTQ+ spectrums that will be accessible to all.

The aim of Pantene's gallery is both to enable and to challenge the industry to follow our lead and demonstrate what beautiful looks like by accurately representing how LGBTQ+ communities #StyleWithPride. As part of the campaign, Pantene will team up with Dresscode Project to ensure authentic and inclusive representation, as well as offer an opportunity for stylists of the LGBTQ+ community to contribute to the program. We’ll also partner with GLAAD to help continue to support their Visibility Project which aims to drive and sustain LGBTQ+ representation in marketing.

And finally, as a show of support for inclusivity and equality for all, Pantene will be donating $1 to Dresscode Project for every photo shared using #StyleWithPride to reinforce our commitment (*up to $100,000). This campaign is the latest in support of Pantene’s mission to represent, celebrate and make the LGBTQ+ community feel beautiful year-round.

“Marketing and advertising images surround us every single day, and so many members of the LGBTQ+ community can relate to not feeling seen or represented in these images,” said Brent Miller, Global LGBTQ+ Equality & Inclusion for P&G. “Hair is such a powerful tool for self-expression, yet this often isn’t captured in traditional advertising which tend to often focus on stereotypes or visual shortcuts. Our goal with this campaign is to encourage brands to showcase beauty in its many forms and celebrate all the ways hair can be used to feel like the best, most authentic version of yourself.”

“Our ongoing VisualGPS research affirms that the most recalled depictions of the LGBTQ+ people are stereotypical, that’s if they’re even seen at all,” said Tristen Norman, Head of Creative Insights for the Americas at Getty Images. “This campaign provides an opportunity for us to play a part in celebrating the diversity of self-expression within the queer community, and ultimately help change the prevailing narratives to help fuel better, and more inclusive visual storytelling across all forms of media.”

Kristin Rankin, Dresscode Project founder shared, “Traditionally the hair and beauty marketing industry has been based off stereotypes and biases related to the idea of gender being binary. This campaign allows us to shine a light on the diversity this community uses to express themselves, while challenging stereotypes in the media. For many in the LGBTQ+ communities, their hair journey is immensely personal and being able to see themselves and all the different ways hair can be used for self-expression will allow them to feel celebrated and help break these biases.”

The #StyleWithPride gallery will be live on Getty Images May 31^st and will be accessible for all brands to leverage. To access some of the amazing, authentic moments captured, please visit https://custom.gettyimages.com/lgbtqguide/p/1

About Procter & Gamble

P&G serves consumers around the world with 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^®, and Whisper^®. The P&G community includes operations in approximately 70 countries worldwide. Please visit http://www.pg.com for the latest news and information about P&G and its brands. For other P&G news, visit us at www.pg.com/news.

About Getty Images

Getty Images is a preeminent global visual content creator and marketplace that offers a full range of content solutions to meet the needs of any customer around the globe, no matter their size. Through its Getty Images, iStock and Unsplash brands, websites and APIs, Getty Images serves over 1 million customers in almost every country in the world and is the first-place people turn to discover, purchase and share powerful visual content from the world’s best photographers and videographers. Getty Images works with over 450,000 contributors and more than 300 content partners to deliver this powerful and comprehensive content. Each year Getty Images covers more than 160,000 news, sport and entertainment events providing depth and breadth of coverage that is unmatched. Getty Images maintains one of the largest and best privately-owned photographic archives in the world with over 135 million images dating back to the beginning of photography.

About Dresscode Project

Dresscode Project is a not-for-profit organization that dedicates their time and resources to educating and training hairstylists and barbers on creating gender affirming safer Spaces so folks who identify within the LGBTQ+ communities get haircuts that help them look the way they feel.

Notes to Editors:

• In 1992, P&G was among the first companies in the world to include sexual orientation into its diversity statement. Today, its LGBTQ+ employee affinity group spans the globe representing more than 50,000 employees in 50 countries.
• P&G is one of 12 founding members of the first global coalition (Human Rights Campaign) and has been committed to diversity and inclusion for decades internally and externally, fostering LGBTQ+ equality in the workplace throughout the world for more than 30 years.
• Externally, as the world’s largest advertiser, P&G has led by example in showing support for the LGBTQ+ community across a multitude of marketing efforts. The partnership with Dresscode Project and the #HairHasNoGender campaign is just one example of many of its ongoing commitment to inclusivity and diversity in brand communications.
• Last year, as part of their #BEAUTIFULBGTQ+ campaign, Pantene showcased “hair moments” depicted in a series that showed examples of families creating lasting memories that can be passed down through generations. Whether it is nighttime hair-wrapping before bed, box braids that make you feel you, or Sunday blowouts to get ready for the school week – these moments allowed for conversations to take place, rituals to be formed and families to grow.

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