How make-up brand Maybelline New York is targeting toxic harassment and discrimination

The Eyes Up Cup event, which it describes as "A battle Royale between 32 of Australia's most impactful women in gaming", is part of the brand's commitment to give everyone the self-confidence to express their beauty.

It's also part of a broader strategy to target Gen Z consumers which has seen the brand actively target the gaming community with partnerships with Logitech G in 2021. At the time Maybelline said the strategy was to align the brand with innovative brands and create authentic connections with consumers, while also ensuring Maybelline was on the pulse of emerging trends.

It's also part of a global strategy which has seen the brand ink partnerships with cross-game avatar platform Ready Player Me and gaming platform Zynga.

For this latest campaign, Maybelline has partnered with ReachOut, an online youth mental health and wellbeing service that provides a safe space where young people can chat anonymously and get support.

The Through Their Eyes campaign centres on a powerful film where male gamers are exposed to the reality of the gaming experience for female gamers.

The film features prominent Aussie male gamers and content creators, Joel “JoelBergs” Bergs and Drew “DrewD0g” Warne playing a first-person shooter game using voice-modification software to sound like women and using fake females profiles.

The gamers experience first-hand the harassment and discrimination that women gamers are regularly exposed to.

Maybelline marketing director, Alexandra Shadbolt said the campaign was part of the brand's mission to help its audience to express their beauty, to play and to make change.

“Since the launch of our Brave Together initiative in 2022, it has been our passion to learn more about the lived experiences of women, non-binary people and other LGBTQIA+ communities to understand where more work needs to be done.

“We wanted to showcase the discrimination these communities face in gaming. We hope that after viewing the film, gamers can think differently about their actions and we can all create a safer, inclusive space in gaming," said Shadbolt.

The strategy was driven by a recent national survey, which revealed 83% of female-identifying gamers have directly experienced or observed offensive behaviour or language while online. The research found that more than half of these people turned off their microphones to hide their identity in order to avoid harassment.

The Through Their Eyes campaign, which launches this week, will run across social media and coincides with WorldPride Festival, which kicks off celebrations in Sydney on 17 February.

The campaign was created by independent creative agency, HERO.