Need to Know
24 : 06 : 21

UK – London’s Migration Museum is drawing attention to the diverse backgrounds of professional footballers through an awareness-building campaign.

The Football Moves People campaign, which coincides with the UEFA European Championships 2020 tournament, highlights the prevalence of migrant backgrounds among footballers. Focusing primarily on the England squad, the initiative includes out-of-home posters and digital graphics by Wonderhood Studios, which spotlight the diverse roots of key players including Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane. Real-time digital teamsheets and full-time score graphics highlight the impact of squad line-ups and final scores without the presence of players of migrant backgrounds.

‘It’s no exaggeration to say that without migration, football as we know it wouldn’t exist. But migration has shaped far more than football,’ says Robyn Kasozi, head of public engagement at the Migration Museum. ‘It’s time to put migration at the heart of our national conversations, and with tens of millions of us watching the Euros this summer, where better to start than with football.’

As The Future Laboratory’s strategic foresight editor Adam Steel notes, football teams, players and communications can be powerful in sparking civic action and conversations about inclusivity.

US – The skincare brand is catering for the needs of melanin-rich complexions, while challenging the beauty industry’s lack of inclusivity during product development.

Launching with its Dark Spot Serum, EADEM uses technology to target skin pigmentation in women of colour. While many dark spot serums currently available have been tested on white skin, the brand recognises the importance of involving people of colour at each stage of product development – from chemists and dermatologists to consumer testing.

Alongside this wholly inclusive approach to product development, EADEM is pledging to make changes in the beauty industry through its Beauty Burden concept – rejecting Eurocentric beauty standards and ensuring clean and safe formulations for people of colour. ‘We started EADEM to redefine the standard of beauty and challenge the beauty industry beyond tokenism,’ reads a brand statement. ‘Most beauty products don’t take our biological differences and needs into account – so we set out to create skincare that’s inclusive, cleaner and actually made for us.’

In our recent Reclaiming Black Beauty market, we explore the brands and individuals addressing the needs of Black beauty consumers sector from the inside-out.

Among US consumers, there is a clear demand for varied and inclusive emojis relating to sex, according to a study by sexual wellness brand LELO.

The brand’s 10,000-person survey reveals that 54% of people think there should be an emoji for safe sex and sex toys. And while 76% of participants in the study say that they use emojis for sexting, 62% believe that dedicated sex emojis should only hint at sex and only 29% believe they should clearly portray sex.

This data reflects a growing demand for improved digital communications around intimacy – something that many people have relied upon during global lockdown periods. Luka Matutinović, chief marketing officer at LELO, says: ‘Having sex, safe sex, and even sex toy emojis will therefore be the next milestone in fully liberating the discourse on sex.’

To discover more about the evolving visual narrative of sex and pleasure, delve into our Unrefined Intimacy design direction.