Häagen-Dazs rebrands its Vanilla flavour packaging for IWD

As part of International Women’s Day, Häagen-Dazs is honouring its female co-founder Rose Mattus, through a global campaign titled “The Rose Project”. The campaign also has a US$100k bursary to shine a light on Mattus' unsung contribution to the brand and aims to honour women who don’t hold back.

A global rebrand honouring Mattus’ contribution will see ‘Rose Mättus Woman Founded Business Established 1960’ accompanying the iconic Häagen-Dazs logo across multiple touch points in shops and on digital and social platforms.  Meanwhile, Häagen-Dazs Vanilla ice cream will be renamed to the ‘Founder’s Favourite’ in recognition of Mattus’ life-long love of the brand’s iconic original flavour since 1960.

The ‘Founder’s Favourite’ will be offered as a free scoop to consumers on 8 March to mark International Women’s Day in over 100 selected Häagen-Dazs shops across Europe, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East. For those unable to attend the Free Scoop day, a limited-edition run of 1960 Häagen-Dazs ‘Founder’s Favourite’ Vanilla take-home pints have also been created. The pints will be available in all celebrating shops around the world across the month of March and consumers will have an opportunity to redeem them by scanning an in store QR code and nominating someone for The Rose Project.

The global idea has been conceptualised by Forsman & Bodenfors New York with all creative and design led by LOVE, social strategy by BrandCrops Madrid and The Rose Project management by Capture Communications.

The new campaign follows the brand’s “Women Who Don’t Hold Back” initiative to shine a light on female trailblazers around the globe launched in 2021.

As part of “The Rose Project”, people around the world will have the opportunity to nominate themselves or other unsung women who deserve recognition for their trailblazing efforts, achievements and societal contributions. From these nominations, a shortlist of 50 women will be selected for their commendable efforts.

“Reuben Mattus made our flavours but Rose Mattus made us famous! By telling Mattus’ untold story as a marketing pioneer who built our brand as a true partner to her inventor husband and helped create our shops business with her daughter Doris, we hope to use this year’s IWD celebration as a beacon for #EmbraceEquity,” said Clare Brosnan, global brand experience director at Häagen-Dazs.

“We hope that Rose Mattus’ story inspires talented and often unsung women to share their own story and also put others forward for the grants. The launch of The Rose Project directly puts our purpose to action with the long-term commitment to supporting women and gender equity going well beyond International Women’s Day,” Brosnan added.

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