When we see a Black woman’s headshot, what we don’t see are the pressures to conform to what society deems ‘professional’. Over 80% of Black women change their hair to fit in at work.

We set out to reveal the double standard of professionalism using 2 headshots: one showing a woman with her natural hair, the other a woman with "‘societally acceptable” hair.

We ran the campaign in the place where hiring happens, Linkedin, as part of a partnership between Dove and Linkedin.

#BlackHairIsProfessional exceeded all campaign metrics and quickly became Dove’s most successful partnership to date. We provided the spark to engage the business community in the fight to pass The CROWN Act, pushing Dove over its goal of 500,000 petition signatures and empowering all professionals to address systemic bias within their own organizations.

1.2B+ earned impressions

9 million+ campaign hashtag views

5.9M organic impressions in week 1

100% positive sentiment

+17% increase in awareness of The CROWN Act

The response to the print campaign was brilliant, so we created a visceral film that tells three individual stories of hair discrimination at work.

The film launched at the BET Awards 2023.