Many women may not know it, but, they face inequalities in every purchase of their favorite shampoo, deodorant and other beauty basics. The infamous “Pink Tax” is an added amount women are charged for basic products or services, including body wash, laundry services, conditioner and more. Now, European Wax Center (EWC) is leading an effort to “Ax The Pink Tax” with a new initiative aimed at raising awareness for the unjust Pink Tax and inspiring women to take a stand.
The #AxThePinkTax campaign will launch April 2 and will aim to raise mass awareness and education about the issue, inspiring women to make more empowered purchasing decisions and to advocate for equal prices for equal products. Behind the campaign’s development are EWC’s agency partners, including their creative agency of record Pereira & O’Dell, who helped identify the Pink Tax as an issue, its media agency, SwellShark, and its social agency, Laundry Service. #AxThePinkTax will engage women through eyebrow-raising messaging and imagery across paid media and EWC-owned channels. Other elements include an event partnership, charitable contributions and a special offer at all EWC centers nationwide.
Media Partnerships: EWC will partner with Refinery29 for their “365 Days of Women” campaign, championing women’s accomplishments, highlighting gender equality, and inspiring the next generation of powerful females. On April 5, the brands will host the “Ax The Pink Tax” panel, hosted by actress and activist Danielle Brooks and featuring blogger and advocate Mama Cax, founder of By Babba and co-founder of Her USA Babba Rivera and founder of Ladies Get Paid Claire Wasserman to be broadcast live on the R29 Facebook page. EWC and Refinery29 will interview 10 powerful women to discuss the inequalities they have faced and their efforts to tackle them.
EWC will also partner with Cosmopolitan on a cross-platform program, including content in the May issue educating readers on how to get a movement off the ground. Extending digitally, Cosmopolitan.com will create co-branded online video content to raise awareness on the Pink Tax and highlight its financial impact on their audience.
The message will be spread through advertising on popular podcasts like Wondery’s Juicy Scoop, Millenial Money and Sorta Awesome.
Social Media: Social media content will highlight the Pink Tax through eyebrow-raising educational facts and statistics to engage and empower followers, while shining a spotlight on its detrimental financial affects. A custom Snapchat lens allows users to sport pink brows. And, EWC’s Strut Society, an inspiring and diverse group of influencers, will join a variety of fearless activists and beauty bloggers to don pink brows on social media to raise awareness for the issue and the campaign.
AxThe PinkTax.com and Videos: A newly launched site that houses campaign videos and educational materials. The site also directs women to find an EWC near them where they can go to get free pink brows which they can then post to social channels to help raise awareness. There will also be a series of educational videos on the Pink Tax facts, featuring highlights on how real women feel about it.
EWC Center Initiative: Throughout April, EWC will offer guests a 13.51% discount on one service or product at its over 650 centers nationwide, in order to raise awareness about the $1,351 extra that women pay every year due to The Pink Tax. And EWC associates will wear and raise a pink brow to further raise awareness and show their solidarity.
Support of Female Charities: EWC will donate more than $200,000 to multiple female-focused charities one of which being Girls In Tech (GIT), a global non-profit focused on the engagement, education, and empowerment of women who are passionate about the growth of innovative women entering the high-tech industry and building startups.
“We know, through studies, that women pay what amounts to $2,248.65* more for their personal care essentials, and EWC is taking a stand against such inequality by empowering our guests, and women everywhere, to join us,” said David Coba, CEO and co-founder of EWC. “We hope #AxThePinkTax becomes a movement and effects change, perhaps even eradicating The Pink Tax.
*A 2015 study by the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs compared nearly 800 products from more than 90 brands and found a striking price difference in items marketed to women; on average, products for females cost 7% more. The study also cites that women pay more for everyday essentials, such as body wash and conditioner, adding up to a whopping $1,351 per year (according to a 1994 study). Adjusted for inflation (from 1994 to 2018), that amounts to $2,248.65 in 2018, or roughly $182,140 in a women’s lifetime,if that average remained the same over 50 years.