Disney believes all of our dreams can come true, and launched a new campaign inspiring girls and young women to take the leading role in their own lives to make that happen.

#SoyPrincesaSiendoYo (#I’mMyOwnPrincess) breaks down gender stereotypes and encourages girls to become whoever they want to be, says Belén Urbaneja, director of corporate citizenship and brand management at The Walt Disney Company Latin America.

“Princesses come from fairy tales, from ‘once upon a time,’ and because of this Disney does not let go completely of this concept,” says Urbaneja. “But the ‘once upon a time’ can refer to a girl who wants to be a surfer, a ballerina or a soccer player. This is what we want to show. We want to get away from the idea that a princess is just a girl wearing a dress. ‘Soy Princesa Siendo Yo’ has a very positive and different message, because we changed the perspective. We are convinced that we can all be what we want to be and that there are no limits, neither because of gender nor because of race.”

What it Means to Be a Princess

Via the campaign, Disney developed a variety of ways to encourage young women to find their own ways of “being a princess.”

One such undertaking asked 20 female photographers from 16 different countries to shoot a series of images featuring strong female role models such as Brazil’s 11-year-old championship surfer and kiteboarder Mikaili Sol, portrayed in the picture below by Luisa Dörr.

Photographers include Annie Griffiths, National Geographic’s first woman reporter as well as many other award-winning photographers.

All of the photos were tagged on social media under the hashtag #DreamBigPrincess. Young women also were encouraged to post their own photos of empowerment using the same hashtag. For every like, Disney donated $1 to the association Girl Up, which supports UN programs that promote the health, safety, education, and leadership of girls in developing countries.The maximum of $1 million was raised just days after the launch.

On a regional level, through its Corporate Citizenship department, Disney partnered with Ashoka, an organization dedicated to cultivating a community of changemakers, around the premiere of the movie Beauty and the Beast.

Together, they created a video with Emma Watson as Belle, showcasing her as a forward-thinking, compassionate woman and spreading the message that all girls can achieve anything they set out to do if they unleash their inner beauty.

The public was encouraged to share the video on social media, and Disney again donated $1 for every like. Ashoka put the $10,000 raised toward entrepreneurship projects in its network, such as As Empatilhaças! in Brazil, which brings together girls under 10 and women over 50 to talk, play, and learn from one another about the role of women in the world.

The campaign includes other spots as well that encourage children to find their own values ​​of “motivation and determination,” to “follow their hearts” and to “take a leap into the unknown without looking back” in and teaches “for every girl who dreams big, there’s a princess to show her it’s possible.”

Big Dreams for Responsible Marketing

While #SoyPrincesaSiendoYo stands out among Disney’s social responsibility efforts this year, its Corporate Citizenship department has many other items on its agenda.

“Our mission is to lead the business to create products in an ethical manner and to promote both the well being of children and families as they join us to build a better world,” says Urbaneja. “As a company, we are deeply aware of the power behind our stories, our brands and characters. We take this as a responsibility to make sure our content is safe and age-appropriate, and as an opportunity to promote positive values through our stories, on which we set our foundation.”

With this in mind, the department identifies regional issues it can influence, and has developed campaigns and programs broken into categories: Community, Healthy Lifestyle, Creativity and Innovation, Nature, and Marketing, Advertising and Responsible Content for Children.

One such program around digital culture and education helps create content and tools for children, parents and teachers that promote online safety for kids, digital literacy and the positive use of technology in a creative and innovative way.

One of the most recent developments is the educational video game Moana: Wayfinding with Code, which was recognized in June by Engage for Good with the Gold Halo Award for Best Education Campaign and the Silver Halo Award for Best Digital Campaign.

The game focuses on the adventurous Moana and the demigod Maui, as they sail across the wide ocean. As players follow them on their voyage, they learn basic programming skills, including commands to steer a boat so they can avoid being suddenly struck by the Kakamora, a tribe of wild coconut-armored pirates.

Corporate Citizenship also strives to contribute to and strengthen communities through knowledge. For the past 13 years, company employees have donated their time to bring entertainment to communities through Disney’s VoluntEARS program.

The department also is committed to encouraging children and families to reconnect with nature, adopting sustainable habitats and helping to preserve endangered species. One of the environmental campaigns with the greatest regional impact was #QueSiganNadando (#JustLetThemKeepSwimming), which was tied to the premiere of the Disney/Pixar movie Finding Dory. The public was encouraged to share the below video on social media using the hashtag #QueSiganNadando.

For each interaction, Disney donated $1, and ultimately reached its $50,000 goal, which was donated to Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots youth service program that aims to foster respect and compassion for all living things, to promote understanding of all cultures and beliefs, and to inspire each individual to take action to make the world a better place for people, other animals, and the environment.

While promoting a healthy lifestyle, Disney ensures sports are included in its series with shows such as, O11CE, which is dedicated to the world of soccer, and by incorporating physical activity in other productions such as roller skating in Soy Luna.

Disney relies on these campaigns as an opportunity to expand the conversation beyond the company’s social agenda.

“We work with our creative teams to make sure they are including all these values ​​in their scripts and across all of creative,” says Urbaneja. “We also think about new ways to promote good practices and raise the bar in the industry when it comes to responsible marketing.”

Version español: La nueva campaña de Disney Latino ayuda a las niñas a descubrir la princesa que todas llevan dentro

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