The Mayor of London’s “Say Maaate to a Mate” campaign may have attracted criticism for being “offensive” and “naive” but LadBible Group has claimed the activity is successfully battling sexism and misogyny in society by reaching over 6 million people through its social channels.
The group, which claims to reach two-thirds of under 34-year-olds in the UK, partnered with the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and Ogilvy to amplify the activity, which is designed to empower young men and boys to challenge their friends if they have made a sexist comment,
As part of the campaign, launched two weeks ago LadBible used its youth consumer research panel LadNation, with access to over 55,000 people to commission research into sexist and misogynistic language and how it impacts younger people.
The research found that 82% of women have experienced casual sexism, in comparison to 17% of men. When it comes to calling out casual sexism, a third of young people say they have called out their friends for making sexist comments.
LadBible Group is activating the campaign across social, editorial and display through a mix of original content formats through its brands LadBible, SportBible and Tyla. The content strategy focuses on bringing this core campaign message to the LadBible audience through its formats that resonate with young men.
The campaign was first activated with educational assets to share the key stats that sit within the core of the campaign. LadBible Group also partnered with popular creators Luke Vernon and Kamilla Rose to head to the streets to spread the message and engage the general public through trending formats. Alongside this, a bespoke online hub has been created on LadBible.com, to share advice and suggestions on the subject.
As part of the partnership Sadiq Khan will also be featuring in a new flagship original format for the Group, Honesty Box, where he will face questions from the LadBible audience on questions including women’s safety.
LadBible director of marketing and communications Lindsay Turner said: “We are proud to bring this campaign to life across our portfolio and help the Mayor amplify such an important message. We recognise that with our huge reach, of over a billion people globally every single month, we have a responsibility to share content with our audience that drives cultural change in a positive way. We have already reached over six million people with our content, via our social channels, driving conversation with our audience across the Group’s brands.”
Not everyone is convinced of the merits of the campaign, however, with one activist claiming the campaign is myopic and “offensive in its naivety”. On social media one user wrote: “This is so important and, for me at least 20 years too late #TackleViolenceAgainstFemales!”
A second wrote: “This is one of the most ridiculous and pathetic campaigns on a very important subject.” And a third added: “Good idea in theory. In practice, it is unlikely the men who would call out such language are friends with those who regularly use it. So it won’t have much impact.”
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