‘Because I’m worth it’: Why L'Oréal boss is afraid slogan will last another 50 years

L'Oréal’s Global Brand President tells the story behind their iconic slogan and why she wishes she could decommission it.

Transcript

00:00The slogan of the brand L'Oréal Paris, Because I'm Worth It, has a great story.

00:04It has been created in 1971 by a young female copywriter in New York, and she did that because

00:12all the advertising for female were done by male. And we wanted to launch a hair color in the U.S.

00:20called Preference that is still existing, and this hair color was very expensive. And she

00:26wrote a full copyright for the advertising saying that it's the best hair color in the world,

00:32it's also the most expensive, but I'm worth it. And it has been created in 1971, so it was the

00:39beginning of the feminism in the U.S. And claiming the self-worth of a woman in an advertising,

00:45it was really the first time it happened. So it has been building the old story of L'Oréal Paris

00:52giving power to women and giving them a sense of self-worth.

00:57Because we are all worth it.

00:59I think the slogan, Because I'm Worth It, passed the test of time because it's still so actual,

01:06so modern. You know that not a single country in the world has yet achieved parity.

01:11Half of the people think that we've gone far enough in a women's rights promotion.

01:17So I think that claiming and shouting out loud that the women are worth it is still so relevant.

01:26Those words are radical in reality, and we still need them to be radical.

01:31I'm afraid that this slogan will live for another 15 years, because I'm afraid that we need to

01:38repeat constantly to the women on the planet that they are worth it, that they have the equivalent

01:45worth, of course, than men, and that they are worth it. So I'm happy, and at the same time,

01:51I'm afraid that we have to keep this slogan alive and to enrich it with concrete action towards

01:58women. We have several actions. Number one is a street harassment, because we ask the women what

02:03is the third barrier to their self-development, and it's street harassment. Because they cannot

02:09have a job after university to gain money because it's at night, they don't want to

02:13take the subway. So it's really an issue not to walk free in the streets. So we create the

02:20stand-up cause that is now expanding in 46 countries. We have been training 3 million people

02:27to react in front of a street harassment case when you are a victim or a witness.

02:31Step number two, it's women in cinema. So during the Cannes Film Festival, we are promoting young

02:37directors. Step three, it's globally women in the workplace. So we create the Worth It resume,

02:44where all our spokespersons explain that, of course, they have successes, but before having

02:49successes, they had failures. And this Worth It resume pushes the women to dare, to dare to create

02:56a job, to dare to create a startup, and not to be pulled back by the fear of failure. So having

03:05women in the streets, women in cinema, and globally women in the workplace, we think we

03:10cover what is the active life of a woman. You know, being visible in the public spaces,

03:15being visible in the workplace. That's a bit the mission we want to have.