Be Bold, Be Confident – Join the Campaign on Beauty Cyberbullying
By: Hope Wilkos, Writer
One of the oldest beauty companies in the world, COTY, founded in 1904, announced in London, England, this week, its newest campaign to stand up against beauty cyberbullying. The campaign is a partnership with an organization working tirelessly to fight this issue.
The campaign, I WILL NOT BE DELETED, will be led in full force by COTY’s cosmetic brand, RIMMEL LONDON. This purpose-led campaign was kicked off on October 23rd, 2018, with a panel discussion on the powerful impact that beauty cyberbullying has on today’s society. The media event was designed to spark a worldwide conversation around this increasing problem. The panel consisted of RIMMEL Brand Ambassadors, Rita Ora and Cara Delevingne as well as other inspiring individuals, senior members of the global RIMMEL team at COTY and charity partner, The Cybersmile Foundation. The purpose of holding this campaign event was to bring to light the significance of the issue on a global scale while sharing personal experiences of the panel members, creating an avenue for the audience to relate to them. TV and Radio personality, Gemma Cairney, moderated the thought-provoking conversation. Both Rita Ora and Cara Delevingne spoke passionately about celebrating self-expression and individuality when it comes to inner and outer beauty. Panelists Chessie King, Joanne Dion and Anthony Pius explained their first-hand stories, finishing with the ways they learned to overcome hurtful comments through self-empowerment and confidence.
Statistics have revealed that on an annual basis, an estimated 115 million images are removed from the internet due to negative comments or abuse. Serious consequences have been shown to affect 46% of the women experiencing this cyberbullying such as alcohol and substance abuse and eating disorders. This cannot continue to go on unnoticed.
The panel discussion also included Sara Wolverson (RIMMEL’s Marketing Vice President at COTY) who outlined the brand’s stand against beauty cyberbullying with its latest campaign I WILL NOT BE DELETED. She also reiterated the clear purpose behind the campaign, namely championing self-expression in beauty. RIMMEL has always been against narrow definitions of beauty and people being judged because of the way they look. The brand wants to inspire its customers to experiment and express their uniqueness with make-up. RIMMEL wants to contribute solutions that can make a positive impact against prejudice and discrimination which are obstacles that can hinder self-expression.
Attending the day’s event was Dan Raisbeck, co-founder of The Cybersmile Foundation, a multi award-winning non-profit organization that is committed to tackling all forms of digital abuse and cyberbullying. Raisbeck commented, “We are delighted that RIMMEL has partnered with us in addressing such an important and relevant issue that is affecting so many people around the world. Their long-term commitment shows a real understanding of the scale of the problem and the work needed to develop effective support and resources for the victims of beauty cyberbullying.”
The three-year partnership between RIMMEL and Cybersmile Foundation will involve joint incentives and campaigns supported by online influencers and celebrities around the world who share a pro-active attitude to online abuse and to help young girls and women build resilience to this beauty cyberbullying.
In the first year of the newly formed partnership, a revolutionary product called ‘Cybersmile Assistant’ will be developed and launched. It is scheduled to unveil in January 2019 as a state-of-the-art AI-driven tool that will be available for all visitors to the Cybersmile website and can be accessed across the globe. This ground-breaking virtual assistant will recommend approved local resources, helplines and organizations that can assist those affected by beauty cyberbullying and many of its associated problems such as anxiety, body-image and depression. RIMMEL and Cybersmile Foundation have also published a Beauty Cyberbullying Toolkit. This toolkit is a digital guide for anyone who is affected by beauty cyberbullying and details the steps you can take to protect yourself, deal with incidents and support others who are targeted with abuse because of their identity. You can download the Beauty Cyberbullying Toolkit here.
This inspiring event on October 23rd was held in the glamorous Rumpus Room rooftop bar at the Mondrian Hotel in London’s Southbank.
