LUX modernises Chinese women's names with new social campaign

In celebration of its 100th anniversary, Unilever’s LUX has unveiled a social campaign “In her name” to challenge unconscious bias and highlight the power of a new name. 

This comes as the brand realised a name given at birth doesn’t accurately reflect a person’s authentic self and true potential - a particular issue in China, but also other countries globally.  

With 47% of women surveyed expressing a desire to change their names, ‘In her name’ seeks to empower women to become protagonists of their own lives, and to inspire women to give their daughters stronger, modern alternatives to traditional options or legally changing their own names.  

As part of the initiative, one of the participants Yà Nán, whose name translates as ‘second to man’ or ‘inferior to man’, says: “This name brings me constant stress. All my life, I had to work harder than men to prove myself.” The initiative is done in collaboration with VML Singapore.  

As a beauty brand that aims to empower women to find strength in their beauty and rise above the judgements they face, LUX has worked with linguistics professor and language expert Liu Yanchun on 100 new names that genuinely reflect what Chinese women should be called nowadays.  

Instead of highlighting outdated ‘feminine’ traits like ‘quiet’, ‘loveable’ and ‘small’, or a sexist preference for a son such as ‘welcome younger brother’, the new names evoke strength and potential, from 佳睿, meaning ‘beautiful and wise’ to 明奕, meaning ‘a girl with a bright future’.  

The 100 new names have been revealed via Chinese social platform Xiaohongshu. Each name is brought to life by a striking, bespoke image of a woman which embodies the strong, powerful and inspiring associations of each name.  

Via a mobile touchpoint on social platforms Douyin and Weibo, followers can also find suggestions about the types of qualities and personality traits they might want their new name to convey and a call to action to join the movement. The initiative will kick off in China.  

Severine Vauleon, global brand vice president of LUX said: “Our new initiative ‘In Her Name' is aimed at empowering Chinese women by identifying contemporary names that reflect the power and potential of modern women. Through these new names, women can find strength in their inner and outer beauty - helping us all move further towards a more gender-equal society.” 

Liu Yan Chun, professor of linguistics and applied linguistics communication, University of China, said “While creating new names, I’ve drawn inspiration from classical literature, embraced positive connotations and addressed contemporary societal needs. Through this diverse lens, I’ve curated names for women.”  

Marco Versolato, chief creative officer, Unilever at VML Singapore said: “Over the past few years, we are proud to have worked closely with LUX to shed light on some of the judgements and casual sexism women face in their everyday lives. Now, we’re excited to launch LUX’s latest initiative, ‘In her name’ where we have collaborated with linguistics expert Liu, on a gender-parity initiative inspired by the recent trend of Chinese women officially changing their birth names.” 

“Traditional Chinese names are linguistically beautiful, but in contemporary society don’t necessarily reflect the strength and power of modern Chinese women - which is why we wanted to create some more representative and inspiring options. A name, after all, is so much more than a name - it’s a reflection of your potential,” Versolato added. 

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