Great Work: Vogue’s Non-Issue issue
McCann Paris used Facebook Messenger’s AR tools to create an interactive age-positive supplement for British Vogue and l’Oreal Paris
The April 2019 issue of British Vogue came with an 80-page supplement dedicated to women over 55. Created in partnership with l’Oreal Paris, the Non-Issue issue featured everything you’d expect from a regular issue of the magazine, but with one key difference: every woman featured inside was 55 or older. Alongside fashion, travel and lifestyle content, it contained interviews with a range of inspiring women in their 50s, 60s and 70s, from Jane Fonda and Helen Mirren to makeup artist Val Garland.
The issue was part of a campaign for l’Oreal’s Age Perfect range and marks a change in direction for the brand. “In 2019, we aimed for a transformational execution … one that would make the world look forward to getting older,” it says.
While we have seen some positive progress when it comes to the representation of older women, most campaigns in the fashion and beauty world are still fronted by models in their 20s. With the Non-Issue issue, l’Oreal Paris says it wanted to change the way people think about ageing, and build on its mission to help women “fulfill themselves according to their own rules and desires” – an aim which is summed up in its famous ‘Because I’m worth it’ strapline.
Agency McCann Paris created an augmented version of the publication using Facebook Messenger’s AR Target Tracker and Target Recognition tools, which allow brands to create interactive experiences linked to images or objects in the real world.
Readers could use the camera function on their smartphone within the Facebook Messenger app to unlock extra content and behind-the-scenes footage from the making of the issue, triggering video, audio and animation by holding their phone over relevant pages within the supplement.
The Non-Issue issue proved popular both online and off. l’Oreal Paris says the campaign reached over 13 million people on Instagram and 3.9 million offline. The issue also had greater coverage than Vogue’s September Fashion Issue. Through its innovative use of Facebook’s AR tools, McCann Paris helped bring the issue to life and encouraged people to actively engage with the publication.
Great Work is part of Inspire, a partnership between Creative Review, Facebook and Instagram to showcase outstanding creative work across both platforms. You can see more content from the partnership at creativereview.co.uk/inspire
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