A few days ago, actress Samara Felippo changed her hair color for a L'Oreal campaign. A fairly recurrent activation for beauty brands and women's hair dye, but this time with a plot twist. The video begins with the actress showing her gray hair from the roots, and then dyeing her hair white! in a move seen as liberating for women. I confess that at first I didn't understand it: if the actress wants to show off her white hair and no longer worry about dyeing it, why dye it white? It was explained to me that there is a transition phase, which can take a long time, where the woman doesn't feel comfortable. In this sense, the brand can help her regain her self-esteem during this phase and the woman continues with the purpose of assuming and valuing her age, her gray hair and fighting ageism.
Ageism is defined as intolerance and discrimination towards age and is considered the 3rd major ism in our society today, after racism and sexism. It's a hot topic and a relevant cause for a country whose age structure is changing due to the continuous drop in fertility and mortality rates. Soon, we will all be part of this group and, if we don't evolve as a society, we will be unsuitable for the job market.
There are various theories that seek to understand the origin of organizational discrimination, but I prefer the one proposed by Cuddy and Fiske (2002). They claim that technological advances have created new jobs for which older people were not prepared and have therefore been left out, devalued as a workforce and desired as consumers. In order to evolve, companies need to promote health, safety and quality for older people to continue working and encourage intergenerational teams. Stereotypes need to be combated, and one of the ways is to have these people around and encourage discussion.
Two years ago, the company where I work launched a senior trainee program and it has been a learning experience on how to welcome and train these professionals and extract value from intergenerational coexistence. Last year, the O Boticário group went one step further and launched a campaign to train 200 women 40+ as digital influencers. The company understood that the way it presents its products has changed and that the real consumer is at the heart of its strategy. We have a long way to go, but consistent initiatives are beginning to be implemented by companies.
In fact, companies have always played an economic role in society by generating value for their shareholders, delivering products and services to consumers and providing income for their employees. But for some time now this has not been enough; social and environmental purpose and actions must be part of the company's strategy and measured through the triple bottom line (TBL) to guarantee its sustainable growth.
The term TBL was coined in 1994 by John Elkington to measure a company's impact based on three pillars: people/society, planet and profits. A successful company must focus on business continuity, seek economic profit with the least possible environmental impact and maintain a healthy relationship with its stakeholders (including employees). In 2018, J.E. revised his own article to ensure that TBL was perceived as a disruptive change in strategy, in the way companies think.
Once again, companies have a fundamental role to play in discussing and advancing an issue that is relevant to society and helping us to think differently. I hope that L'Oreal's campaign is accompanied by affirmative action within the organization, which would be an achievement in combating ageism.
