Sally Hansen imagines a 'Shetopia' for first global campaign

Beauty brand Sally Hansen is celebrating self-made women this fall, with the launch of ‘Shetopia', its first-ever global brand campaign.

The short, tongue-in-cheek film imagines a world where females rule the roost, telling stories of women as corporate power players, athletes and mothers. Set to the track ‘Woman' by Diana Gordon, it features some of Sally Hansen's best-known products, from ‘Airbrush Legs' to nail polishes, but also sees stereotypical gender roles reversed -- with men fighting for equal pay and paternity leave. The actors are made up of nine different women who all contributed their real-life experiences to the project.

Chelsea FC soccer player Eniola Aluko, who stars in the campaign, explains: "My personal Shetopia is soccer equality. I used to play with boys, and was often better than them. At times I tried to run away from being a girl soccer player, but you look yourself in the mirror and that is what you are. Soccer is a form of acceptance for me."

Other women with roles in the film include attorney and lifestyle blogger Cynthia Andrew, fashion blogger Gina Ybarra, and Claire Wasserman, the founder of the organization ‘Ladies Get Paid'. "There's something that ties all of these women together," says director Natalie Rae. "They bring this sense of confidence and collectivity -- a sense of freedom."

The campaign comes after a three-year investigation by Coty, the brand's parent company, into the life of Sally Hansen, who left "virtually no record of her existence" following her death in 1963. The research found that Hansen, who founded her eponymous cosmetics company in 1957, was the epitome of the ‘self-made woman' herself, combining her entrepreneurial projects with serving as the first female chair of the California Cosmetics Association and acting as a beauty columnist for The Los Angeles Times. The ‘Shetopia' campaign aims to encapsulate the progressive views of the brand's founder, in a nod to its heritage.