Hannah Waddingham may be more of a rugby fan in real life, but the Emmy-winning actress has been inextricably linked to soccer since her C-suite days in the beloved comedy Ted Lasso.
Taking advantage of that place in the public consciousness, Waddingham and Johnnie Walker have partnered for a campaign to rally viewers around the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The program—which has content, merchandise and experiential activations—will center on “Match Day Memos” from Waddingham that give video tune-in reminders. The messages, delivered by text, include stats and info on how watching women’s sports can help level an uneven playing field for female athletes.
Though women make up 40% of all athletes, they receive less than 10% of total sports news coverage, per the campaign’s data.
“We must do better to make sure women receive the same visibility, recognition and accurate portrayals as their male counterparts,” Waddingham says in an intro video dropping today.
Aside from the dearly departed Ted Lasso, Waddingham’s sports bona fides extend to the Super Bowl, where she made her game-day debut as a glamorous James Bond-style villain in a Rakuten commercial last year.
For the initiative dubbed “Watch Women’s Sports,” Waddingham asks consumers to “demand more attention, more news coverage, more resources and more respect for women athletes.”
The message of the initiative is simple, yet its architects hope it can have a broad, potentially global impact.
“When people tune in, all boats rise,” Sophie Kelly, senior vice president of whiskies at Johnnie Walker’s parent company Diageo North America, told Adweek. “More eyeballs means more brands, more sponsorship money, better payment for athletes.”
Leaders at the Women’s Sports Foundation, a nonprofit partner in the program, said it’s imperative to have corporate backing to help close the visibility gap and move toward gender equity.
“As millions tune in to the Women’s World Cup, it is our hope that this campaign inspires everyone to continue following women athletes in all sports throughout the year and encourages them to uplift all women in their communities so they can thrive on and off the field,” Danette Leighton, the group’s CEO, said in a statement.
Beyond lego-slapping
“Watch Women’s Sports” is part of Johnnie Walker’s ongoing involvement in professional women’s soccer—the brand sponsors Angel City Football Club in Los Angeles and the New Jersey/New York Gotham FC–aiming to take its relationships beyond typical logo-slapping.
