Rock The Lips Initiative Launches to Celebrate International Women's Day on March 8

March 2012

A new social initiative seeks to celebrate International Women's Day using red lipstick as a universal symbol of empowerment. Rock The Lips, created by a team at agency AKQA, will turn the social sphere into a world of kiss marks celebrating women.

Working exclusively in social media, the aim is to get one million women to rock red lipstick on March 8 to create a fresh and invigorated way to mark International Women's Day. Utilizing the hashtag #RockTheLips, people will be able to join the initiative on Facebook, use Twitter to publicly call on influencers to join, and show their participation on Instagram.

How Rock The Lips Works
The initiative calls for people to join the Facebook event to reach the 1 million-participant mark. As a further show of support, Rock The Lips is asking everyone to change their social media profile pictures and Facebook Timeline cover image to the #RockTheLips logo.

Women are also encouraged to take pictures of themselves wearing red lipstick and post it to Instagram with the #RockTheLips hashtag. Tagged pictures from Instagram will be added to the Rock The Lips photo gallery on the Facebook page.

The RockTheLips Twitter handle will be calling out to admirable, influential women to join our #RockTheLips initiative and show their support on International Women’s Day.

Rock The Lips Initiative Launches to Celebrate International Women's Day on March 8

Kristina Slade, creative director at AKQA leading the effort, commented, "Rock The Lips is an idea that it's time for a fun, easy, and inherently female way to acknowledge and celebrate International Women's Day. On March 8th we want 1 million women to rock red lips – because women rock."

AKQA worked with Fast Company magazine to develop a hypothetical awareness campaign to elevate to the role of women in China, a country with a history of gender inequality. Since then, the mock campaign has broadened into this global initiative to celebrate International Women's Day by creating a new tradition: wearing red lipstick as a symbol of female empowerment.