UN Women Australia launches new TikTok dance campaign #EmpowerMoves via The Monkeys
This week girls across the country have been recreating the #EmpowerMoves TikTok dance. But what appears to be just another TikTok dance, is in fact a carefully choreographed sequence of basic self-defence actions, creating a movement through which girls can show their strength and support for a future that is safe, equal and empowered, part of a new campaign created by The Monkeys, part of Accenture Interactive.
UN Women Australia’s #EmpowerMoves invites girls to celebrate International Day of the Girl by coming together on TikTok to show their voice in support of a strong and equal future for themselves.
The powerful dance sequence, personalised by girls around the country, has been echoed by celebrities, and people across the world. It brings together music of Australian singer-songwriter Wafia, the contagious movement of choreographer and entrepreneur Karla Mura, with the direction of She Fights Back, to create a series of basic self-defence movements.
@karlamura_ Feels like this is the kind of dance we need right now #EmpowerMoves ✨ DC: Me 🥰 #dancechallenge #dancetrending #newdancetrend #newdance #newdancechallenge
♬ Good Things (R3HAB Remix) - Wafia
Says Simone Clarke, chief executive officer, UN Women Australia: “The challenges girls face are unrelenting, some we could have never imagined, but they are resilient and deserve to celebrate their strength. When the world is safe and equal for girls – we will dance for joy. Until then, girls can dance to be fierce, dance to be powerful, and dance to show their voice for the equality they deserve.”
Says Tara Ford, chief creative officer at The Monkeys: “#EmpowerMoves is designed to be both uplifting and thought provoking. And while the combination of dance and self-defence is by no means a solution to the wider problem, it’s the beginning of an important cultural conversation for girls. A positive step towards not only personal confidence, but a greater awareness of the larger societal issue many girls and women face every day”.
Says Sunita Gloster, industry commentator and advisor to the UN Women Australia: “#EmpowerMoves invites girls to have some fun and create a movement and conversation about gender equality. It’s their language and their message, on a platform they live on. An equal future needs the voices of our girls and young women to be heard and heralded now. We have seen how potent this generation is at driving change.”
#EmpowerMoves comes after UN Women Australia launched the campaign “When Will She Be Right?” in early 2021, asking Australians to agitate and accelerate progress on gender equality. Now, #EmpowerMoves gives Australian girls an opportunity to show support for that cause, through a platform and message that is relevant to them.
#EmpowerMoves was created by The Monkeys, with support from UM and Edelman, as well as generously donated media from partners including Seven Network, Nine Network, Network 10, Google, Mamamia, NOVA Entertainment, Southern Cross Austereo, Facebook and oOh!media.
To find out more or support UN Women Australia, please visit https://unwomen.org.au/. To support #EmpowerMoves, UN Women Australia encourages using the tags #EmpowerMoves and #Dayofthegirl.
Client: UN Women Australia
UN Women CEO: Simone Clarke
Advisor UN Women National Committee Australia: Sunita Gloster
Creative Agency: The Monkeys, part of Accenture Interactive
Group CEO and Co-Founder: Mark Green
Group Chief Creative Officer: Tara Ford
Managing Director: Matt Michael
Head of Business Management: Belinda Drew
Creative Director: Barbara Humphries
Art Director: Fernanda Gil-Pier
Copywriter: Grace O’Brien
Social Strategist: Charlotte Goodsir
Business Director: Sarah Calver
Business Manager: Isabella Chidson
Senior Planner: Charlotte Marshall
Head of Production: Penny Brown
Senior Producer: Simone O’Connor
Producer: Cathryn Cooper
Digital Producer: Will Haslingden
Design Lead: James Halliday
Senior Designer: Megan Leckey
Senior Finished Artist: Leah Horsley
Senior Editor: Kyle Brandse
Media Agency: UM PR
Agency: Edelman
Production Company: The Kitchen Creative
Photographer/Director: Juli Balla
DOP’s: Dan Hilburn & Jeremy Shaw
Retouching: Cream Electric Art
Production Company: The Jacky Winter Group
Motion Designer: Duncan Brazzil
The Editors, Colourist: Greg Constantarous
Sound Studio: Song Zu
Music Supervision: Level Two Music
TRACK
Good Things (R3HAB remix) performed by WAFIA.
Copyright Warner Music Australia, Sony Music Publishing & Kobalt Music Publishing
29 Comments
Awesome use of TikTok that actually feels smart.
this is awesome, nice work Grace and Fer.
Great idea. If only I could dance…
This is awesome Grace & Fer!
Love this. Something that ppl will actually do too.
Well done Graquille O’neil & Fern.
🙂
I came to do your cool little dances watch me twirl
Get on the next UFC card ASAP Rocky.
If you want to learn self-defence do it properly, not from a TikTok dance designed for award shows.
Rather than teach women to defend ourselves, maybe we could teach men not to attack, rape and murder women?
This is a great idea. Love it. Congrats to the team
This really smart. Good stuff Monkeys.
So you want me to remember a tiktok dance next time some creep attacks me?
I like the effort but this is not going to make a difference. Hope I’m wrong.
‘When will she be right?’ was great. It was thought provoking. Why wouldn’t you build on that?
I do like the typography here though.
Here’s a thought…why can’t we do both?
It’s like saying. Don’t tell people to wear seatbelts! Tell the people speeding to stop!
is the campaign educating the men then? Oh yeah… no one has made it. I rest my case.
Nice to see the platform used in a positive way. Monkeys do it again.
Such an intelligent use of the platform.
Lol
We should definitely do that, but what are you going to do in the meantime? ‘Don’t bother defending yourself because you shouldn’t have to.’
Super smart way of using Tik Tok and engaging people in a bigger conversation!
This is heartbreakingly awesome.
GO CHAR
Good creative is a solution to an actual problem. What problem is this solving exactly? Women don’t feel ’empowered’ to defend themselves against attackers, who are usually someone they know – a partner, relative or former partner. Is the issue here empowerment of women? Yet again – putting the focus and responsibility for male violence towards women, at the feet of the victims. This is not as much bad, as it is harmful. Stop it.
Sorry to piss on the congratulatory parade, but this is very average. TikTok is not an idea.
Ohhhh this is nice.
Brave Grace and Fernanda.
2t
Just kick em in the balls
This idea trivialises and mocks the seriousness of the issue. I shared ‘when will she be right?’ with everyone because it was smart and powerful. I won’t be sharing this. If my girls see this on TikTok how is it empowering them? I think everyone has gotten caught up on using a trending platform instead of focusing on an idea and tackling the much bigger issue.
Yeah I’m sure that ad was appreciated by all the people on Campaign Brief that watched it. Sometimes you need to reach people in different ways.
The only good use of TikTok i’ve seen. Well done.
love this.
Smart. Sassy. Strong.