BETC Etoile Rouge: YSL Beauty fights the ugliness of partner abuse

The statistics about women being killed by their partners are horrifying. One every three days in the US, according to the United Nations. One every week by a partner or former partner in Australia. 30% of women will experience intimate partner violence in their lifetime.

This year, Yves Saint Laurent Beauty, whose brand heritage is closely linked to the defence of women’s freedom and independence, decided to launch an international program to prevent intimate partner violence.

The brand worked with BETC Etoile Rouge to create the program’s associated communication campaign, including the name, logo and visual identity.

Yves Saint Laurent Beauty has already launched Abuse is Not Love in September 2020, a program created in partnership with local associations in order to take into account cultural differences between countries, but above all to be as close as possible to the problem. In the UK, the brand is working with Women’s Aid, a federation of 250 organisations that provide assistance to women victims of domestic violence. In the US, YSL Beauty joins forces with It’s on Us, an association that actively fights against sexual assault on campuses and promotes the concept of consent. In France, the brand has partnered with En avant toute(s), a group that promotes equality between women and men and fights against gender based and anti-LGBTQIA+ violence. The program will be extended to several other countries around the world in the following years.

The program has three pillars:

Financial support, to enable NGO partners to inform, prevent and raise public awareness and support their actions.
Training of the brand’s internal teams up to in-store sales advisers, who are on the front line, to understand the nature of violence within couples.
The development of enlightened leadership through contribution to studies on young people and IPV prevention

Yves Saint Laurent Beauty is also using its voice to help tackle the problem by opening its communication platforms to NGOs, offering conferences, awareness campaigns on its social networks, and interviews. By 2030, Yves Saint Laurent Beauty aims to scale up its action and educate 2 million people around the world about IPV.

Now Yves Saint Laurent Beauty and BETC Etoile Rouge are launching the program’s first awareness campaign. Its focus is emotional abuse, an especially insidious form of intimate partner violence capable of doing irreparable harm. It highlights the potential dangers and nine key warning signs of an abusive relationship to prevent and help people take action in the face of such behaviour.

BETC Etoile Rouge used the heart symbol to amplify the campaign message. The heart, a universal symbol of love and a healthy relationship, but also a symbol strongly associated with and dear to the brand, is systematically shattered by the nine key signs of an abusive relationship.

“It is more crucial than ever that brands and their agencies use their power to support causes as important as this one. We are very proud to support Yves Saint Laurent Beauty in this fight which is particularly close to our hearts,” stated Brune Buonomano, president of BETC Etoile Rouge.

The campaign launched online and on social media on November 16. A website was also created, offering additional information on the signs of an abusive relationship.