If you ask children about toys for girls and boys, you get the stereotypical answers:
“If a castle is pink, well then it’s for girls.”
“Boys don’t know how to take care of babies.”
But when System U, the fourth largest general food retail group in France, asked agency TBWA|Paris to create a toyworld for kids to play in, it demonstrated that, at play, toys are toys.
The retail group believes that being a major retailer in France today means being a social stakeholder, in touch with the French people. So it has committed to breaking down gender stereotypes by creating a Christmas toy catalogue in which the boy/girl divide has been dropped in favour of a universe of toys for all children.
A video created by TBWA|Paris’ shows the social experiment behind the gender-free catalogue. The 60 minute spot goes to air in France on December 20 and is running online, fitting into a dedicated social media campaign.
According to Système U, there is no bias or marketing push intended, just an observation: the innocence in children’s choices is much stronger than our preconceived social stereotypes.
The group’s commitment to social responsibility has already resulted in its being the first to remove parabens from cosmetics in its Produits U own-brand range, the first to replace aspartame by stevia in its sodas. Its gender-free toy catalogue is Système U’s third major undertaking.
Campaign credits:
Client: Système U
Agency: TBWA\PARIS
Advertiser manager: Sandrine Burgat
Agency managers: Luc Bourgery, Philippe Senejoux & Marianne Durand
Art Director: Bruno Bicalho-Carvalhaes
Copywriter: Antoine Gauquelin
Production Company: Else
Director: Alex & Niko
