According to an article by WWD, prestige skincare brand SK-II, has teamed up with top Olympic athletes in a bid to help beauty lose its competitive edge.
The brand is a sponsor for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, via Procter & Gamble (its parent company), which has sponsored the Olympics since 2012. And with this sponsorship comes a new campaign, #NoCompetition, which aims to inspire women to define what beauty means to them while alleviating the pressure many beauty brands have long placed on females.
“The Olympics is a moment where humanity tries on competition and something beautiful, something that pushes everyone to achieve things that may sound impossible,” SK-II CEO, Sandeep Seth, said. “But as a beauty brand, we thought this is a perfect time for us to take a stand and start a conversation on the competition in beauty that we believe is toxic. [It is] a conversation, not just for beauty brands, but for everyone to understand we’ve been putting too much pressure on women.”
The campaign stars six of the top, most competitive female athletes, including Simone Biles, LiuXiang, Ishikawa Kasumi, Ishikawa Kasumi, Misaki Matsutomo, Mahina Maeda and Hinotori Nippon.
“We wanted to pick athletes who are the best in their different fields, but more importantly, who personify beauty as no competition,” Seth said. “Simone Biles is one of the most outstanding athletes, but also someone who has faced a lot of social media trolling. We were not looking for brand ambassadors, but someone who can partner with us and lend their voice."
