Competition.
We think of it as a good thing.
Brings out the best in us.
Pushes us further.
Drives us harder.
Makes us stronger.
We embrace it.
Revel in it.
Celebrate it.
Until it becomes something else.
No longer healthy.
No longer glorious.
No longer desirable.
Beauty.
When beauty standards, rules and limitations
Make us feel bad about ourselves,
And affect how we look, feel and carry ourselves.
This is a kind of competition
That brings out the worst in us.
That is used to shame others.
This is the kind of competition
No one signed up for.
While the world celebrates the beauty of competition at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, global prestige skincare brand SK-II teams up with top Olympic athletes to declare #NoCompetition, in a stand to take the competition out of beauty.
Through sparking conversations, SK-II hopes to inspire women to define what beauty means to them and not take part in these toxic competitions.
Because pressure should never dictate our choices.
This is not a campaign.
SK-II has released a series of six animated anthologies, in which female athletes face down societal pressure personified in kaiju form.
SK-II STUDIO Presents: "VS Trolls" featuring US gymnast Simone Biles as she stares down black-souled online trolls.
Times Square Takeover
To show how big a problem toxic competition is, SK-II takes over one of the biggest stages in the world, with one of the biggest names in the Olympics.
Times Square, NYC, is ready for the big show(down).
Counting down to the LIVE demo by Simone Biles herself.
Simone appears on stage, in SK-II red, and waves to everyone as the screens turn white.
It begins. At the end of the countdown, Simone does what Simone does best.
Times Square, NYC, is ready for the big show(down).
Simone appears on stage, in SK-II red, and waves to everyone as the screens turn white.
Counting down to the LIVE demo by Simone Biles herself.
It begins. At the end of the countdown, Simone does what Simone does best.
The whole of Times Square transforms as 40 screens fill up with a Simone routine LIVE.
Transition. As IRL Simone lands from her flip, LIVE Simone transforms to Avatar Simone on the screen.
Avatar Simone continues to perform her majestic flips and acrobatic moves from one screen to the next.
As the crowd laps it up, the animation begins to change. One by one, a nasty Tweet appears in black on the screen.
The whole of Times Square transforms as 40 screens fill up with a Simone routine LIVE.
Avatar Simone continues to perform her majestic flips and acrobatic moves from one screen to the next.
Transition. As IRL Simone lands from her flip, LIVE Simone transforms to Avatar Simone on the screen.
As the crowd laps it up, the animation begins to change. One by one, a nasty Tweet appears in black on the screen.
After a few seconds on screen, each Tweet transforms into a menacing troll - black with eyes and mouth glowing green.
As their numbers increase, they start chasing Avatar Simone across the screens.
Like a plague cloud blackening the sky, all the screens go dark with trolls, juxtaposed against their glowing eyes and mouth.
The trolls start merging into a giant Troll King - the KAIJU.
After a few seconds on screen, each Tweet transforms into a menacing troll - black with eyes and mouth glowing green.
Like a plague cloud blackening the sky, all the screens go dark with trolls, juxtaposed against their glowing eyes and mouth.
As their numbers increase, they start chasing Avatar Simone across the screens.
The trolls start merging into a giant Troll King - the KAIJU.
Its form complete, the Kaiju looms tall and menacing on the centre middle screen.
As a hush descends on the crowd, Avatar Simone reappears and starts running towards the Kaiju, seemingly to attack it.
The screens turn black with the question "WHEN DID BEAUTY BECOME A COMPETITION?"
The screens change from black to red, and introduces a pledge: SK-II & Simone Biles are DONE with competition.
Its form complete, the Kaiju looms tall and menacing on the centre middle screen.
The screens turn black with the question "WHEN DID BEAUTY BECOME A COMPETITION?"
As a hush descends on the crowd, Avatar Simone reappears and starts running towards the Kaiju, seemingly to attack it.
The screens change from black to red, and introduces a pledge: SK-II & Simone Biles are DONE with competition.
The Times Square experience ends on the branded #NoCompetition, urging people to learn more about it on social media.
