Are you tired of beauty brands preying on insecurities while promoting unattainable beauty standards to sell products? You’re not the only one. So is Jameela Jamil, along with most Americans.
In fact, 51% of Americans say they feel pressured to have a certain body type, and 76% say that the media promotes an unattainable body image for women, according to a 2021 survey conducted by YouGov. That’s why Billie is partnering with Jamil to do something about it with a new campaign.
“When we were looking into the personal care and beauty industries, a great deal of the messaging was reliant on making women feel insecure about their natural body, having a set and defined narrow beauty standard, projecting that you might not meet that standard, and then they would conveniently offer the products to correct or fix it themselves,” says Georgina Gooley, Co-Founder of Billie.
“In line with how we've spoken about shaving and body hair, we wanted to empower women to be confident about their bodies and the choices they make about their bodies, and how they present themselves and not be pressured by these external societal pressures that we face too often.”
To bring that message to life, the campaign starring Jamil puts their spin on the infamous poem scene from 10 Things I Hate About You by calling out the industry’s history of body shaming. “It’s such an iconic film and an iconic scene,” Gooley says. “This year is actually the 25th anniversary of the film. When we started to play around with using the structure of that poem, but rewriting it for the intent of this message that we wanted to convey, the first time it was presented, we all loved it. I felt passionate about not only the message, but also the way it was being delivered.”
Body positivity advocate Jamil was a natural fit for the role. “This is really exciting because this is the first time we have been able to partner with somebody with that type of following,” Gooley says. “Whether they have a big or small following, we try to be really intentional with who we partner with and make sure that they reflect the values we have as a company. This was no exception with Jameela; she's shown time and time again that she challenges the status quo; she rejects these toxic beauty standards. She's the perfect person to reprise the scene. We wanted someone that could do it justice in the way it was delivered, but also align with our brand values.”
Jameela Jamil in the new Billie campaign video
For Jamil, the sentiment was mutual. 'I love Billie—not only the products, but also what their brand stands for,” she says. “It’s the exact kind of boldness and inclusivity that I wish all brands had.'
The campaign is for Billie’s biggest category expansion yet, spanning body washes, body lotions, natural deodorants, and AHA deodorants. Each product targets specific skincare concerns. “We wanted to usher in this new era of body care,” Gooley says. “We've always envisioned Billie to be much more than just a shaving brand. We want it to be the go-to for women's daily routines and so this expansion into body care felt like a very natural progression to us. Our philosophy and how we created these products was centered around the way women decide for themselves what their bodies need or want, and then we would try to deliver a quality experience at an accessible price point. That's very much been our market strategy. These products were inspired by the needs of customers and the gaps that exist within existing product offerings. We focused on products that had skincare benefits that feel great, that you enjoy putting on day to day, but do that at a price point more accessible to everybody.”
The new range goes beyond the basic role of body care. For example, Glow works to brighten and illuminate, while Detox purifies. “The AHA deodorant is a complete game changer with that technology,” Gooley says. “With deodorant, we've often found that people felt like they had to compromise with an aluminum deodorant that worked really well, but maybe had ingredients that people didn't feel as comfortable with wearing day-to-day, or with more natural deodorants that didn't give you enough coverage. We worked really hard on the deodorants to provide two different types. These acids also have these skincare qualities [to prevent] discoloration or ingrowns in their underarms. You'll have the prettiest armpits out there.”
Ultimately, the hope is for Billie’s campaign to shift the conversation away from marketing campaigns that contribute to the negative body image epidemic in our society. “What we're trying to do is flip the coin and challenge external societal pressures that don’t make you feel good enough,” Gooley says. “It takes the questioning away from looking inward, and it's looking outward, like how did we get to this place? The more that people can come together and reject this pressure that often is unfairly put on women, you're hopefully changing the system so that we're not always being exposed to these types of messages. That's the intent with the campaign and how we created our product. We're launching a collection of 15 new products that were designed not to fix things. Your body doesn't need correcting, it's actually the expert. Whether your body needs a little bit of calming because it's inflamed or brightening or deep hydration, it's putting the power back into empowering women to make decisions for themselves and push out all that exterior noise that is not helpful to anyone.”
