Dive Brief

• Pantene is bringing back its iconic tagline "Don't Hate Me Because I'm Beautiful" with a modern update: "Don't Hate Me Because I'm BeautifuLGBTQ," per a press release. The new effort is part of the Procter & Gamble brand's new "Power To Transform" program to give visibility to diverse groups of people.
• The revamp to an iconic 1986 ad defines a modern meaning of beautiful via a video that was created with GLAAD, a new partnership for Pantene. The video shows people who identify as LGBTQ+ dancing with the tagline, "Don't hate me because I'm _____," and filling in the blank with non-binary, trans, and other defining words.
• P&G has also launched a separate new video documenting the history of struggles of LGBTQ employees at its own company over two decades. The 25-minute film, deemed "Out of the Shadows," chronicles the journey of how LGBTQ+ employees overcame adversity at the once conservative company back in the 1990s, produced by agency Great Big Story.

Dive Insight

CPG giant Procter & Gamble is reaching out to the LGBTQ community in a bid of support with its new inclusive Pantene campaign as well as several other recent efforts that demonstrate that company's products are for everyone.

There are some signs that inclusive ads work for brands trying to align themselves with the nation's conversations about social progress. Procter & Gamble's Gillette brand saw success with its "We Believe" ad, a response to the #MeToo movement. The spot took on toxic masculinity with hashtag #TheBestMenCanBe and generated 1.5 million mentions across the internet in January; 1.1 million mentions appeared within the first day the spot aired. After this spot went viral, P&G launched a search tool in April, "S.H.E. – Search. Human. Equalizer," that filters results to make them more equitable, the first part of the "Power to Transform" campaign.

However, marketers may be well-served to proceed cautiously with cause marketing. At a time when customers demand authenticity from brands, it's difficult for brands to find success in striking the right tone with LGBTQ+ targeted advertising as half of Americans say they're more likely to see Pride-themed products or content as a marketing tactic than an accurate reflection of a brand's values, according to a recent YouGov survey.

This week, Unilever CEO Alan Jope warned that brands running purpose-driven campaigns, but failing to take real action could be bad for the advertising industry while new research from Edelman shows that 53% of consumers think brands aren't as committed to society as they claim. P&G's new video showing the struggles of LGBTQ+ employees at the company suggests that the company doesn't want to be accused of overlooking its own role in not supporting diverse communities in the past.

P&G continues to ramp up its messaging around being more inclusive. At the Cannes Lions Festival this week, P&G revealed creative partnerships with John Legend and Arianna Huffington's Thrive Global organization to explore parenthood, modern masculinity, racial bias, and other topics and tell new stories around them. P&G also announced a relaunch of talent discovery service Free the Bid, which has been renamed Free the Work, for women and underrepresented creators as it champions more diverse campaigns.