Haircare brand Elidor (globally known as Sunsilk), is one of Unilever’s largest beauty and personal care brands. It has championed unstereotyped and bold projects for many years to realise its brand purpose, 'opening up possibilities for girls everywhere'. Recently Elidor surveyed young women across Turkey and found that 6 out of 10 believe “there are obstacles to my dreams.”  Lack of support to pursue their dreams and limiting expectations of women are some key obstacles reported. In fact, 78% of those surveyed object to having their future limited by gender norms. 

In line with this research and Elidor's brand purpose, it launched the 'On Our Own Way' project together with TOG (Community Volunteers Foundation) and online learning platform Udemy. To activate the initiative, Elidor supported tens of thousands of young women in realising their dreams through education scholarships and discounted access to Udemy’s online courses.

Throughout the project, the brand highlighted inspiring stories of women role models who pursued their dreams. Turkish volleyball star Ebrar Karakurt is one such role model who fronted the campaign. Ebrar has been in the spotlight with her impressive performance at the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games and 2021 EuroVolley Championship, and is known for her distinctive, short pink hair. 

The campaign centered around the phrase #DedimOlabilir (which translates to 'I said why not'), a phrase that Ebrar frequently used and popularised during the Olympics. The campaign challenges stereotypical ideas around both gender roles and beauty standards that are a barrier for young women in Turkey, including:

• "How could there be a short-haired girl in an Elidor commercial?”
• “The road ahead is long, there’ll be challenges and you’ll be overwhelmed.”
• “What kind of dream is this?”
• “You will hear as many criticism as praises.”

To all these questions, Ebrar responded with a shrug and the phrase “I said, why not?”, reinforcing the message, "all your dreams may come true if you feel like you are ready for them" to young women.

The Turkish campaign appeared via outdoor, digital, and traditional media channels, and received widespread press support. In two days, the campaign organically reached 213,000 users on Instagram, garnered 160,000 likes, and was shared 7,000 times on social media. The campaign was also covered in print, digital, and broadcast media, reaching a further 681,510 users and featuring in 149 online news stories.