THE CHALLENGE

A radio host body-shamed a member of the Toronto Blue Jays, and the pitcher, Alek Manoah, stood up for his teammate on social. He noted that not only was body-shaming hurtful, it also wrongly implied that young overweight boys weren’t welcome in baseball. Dove Men+Care and Edelman saw an authentic and timely reason to celebrate Manoah and our shared values of care. With this campaign, we showed that care is the best of a man, and how Manoah demonstrated just that by caring for his teammate and the sport. Our ultimate goal is to create more care and inclusivity in sport for the next generation of men.   

THE STRATEGY

Dove Men+Care believes that care is the best of a man, and we demonstrated our brand purpose in a culturally-relevant way that reached men in the moment.  

Within days of Manoah’s demonstration of care, we established and awarded him with the first-ever Sponsorship for Sportsmanship. The Sponsorship for Sportsmanship, the first of more to come, recognizes those who make the world of sport a better place through their care and support, on and off the field.  

The Sponsorship for Sportsmanship combined care and sport in an authentic, meaningful way that resonated with men, athletes, boys, and mass audiences.  

THE EXECUTION

In three days, the integrated agency team launched the Sponsorship for Sportsmanship campaign in a powerful and engaging way. We awarded Alek Manoah as the first recipient, and instead of keeping the $100,000 sponsorship award, he chose to pass it on to KidSport, a Canadian charitable organization that supports the next generation of players. 

We partnered with Manoah to develop content that was then shared on his social channels, along with Dove Men+Care’s to announce the partnership. Manoah also created a TikTok to further drive conversation.  

Building off of the Twitter conversation, we invited families who engaged with Manoah’s tweet in defence of his teammate, to participate in our content shoot. We shot at a field downtown and had Manoah play baseball with real boys who were compelled by Manoah’s tweet.  

Manoah and the boys were gifted custom Dove Men+Care jerseys signed by Manoah himself. They then had the opportunity to attend batting practice and the baseball game at the Rogers Centre. We also gifted the full Blue Jays team and their partners with Dove Men+Care and Dove product to enjoy at home or on the road.  

Manoah also participated in several media interviews sharing his story of care for his teammates and the sport. 

THE OUTCOME

Sponsorship for Sportsmanship generated 134 earned articles in top-tier outlets such as Toronto Star, CTV, ESPN, & CP24, 25 broadcast mentions, and more than 39 million impressions for Dove Men + Care – within the first two weeks alone. And the story didn’t stop there; the message spread on social with more than 1,000 mentions Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn, and 99% positive sentiment. 

Overall consumer feedback was extremely positive with many joining in on the online conversation in support of the initiative creating a more inclusive space for men and boys in sport.