Olay, the P&G-owned skin care brand, is stepping up its efforts to inspire women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) as it launches its first-ever float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
The brand's 'Her Future is STEM-sational' float will join a raft of other fantasy floats, giant character balloons, marching bands, celebrity performances and more as it takes to the streets of New York City, US, to celebrate women's STEM accomplishments and inspire viewers to get involved.
With a female astronaut at the centre, the float features visual representations of the four core STEM fields, including a double helix around the perimeter, a robotic arm to represent engineering mathematical symbols and computer codes and a circuit tree, finished off with Olay's signature skin care jar.
Chris Heiert, Senior Vice President of Olay, said: "We love the tradition of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade – the kickoff to the holiday season, and because it is something that brings the whole country and families to watch together.
“As we continue our mission to face the STEM gap, we saw the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade as a great, large scale opportunity to spread the message that women can face anything, and that we are here to support them in doing so."
Today, women make up only 24% of jobs in the STEM fields, according to the P&G-owned brand.
Olay hopes its participation in the iconic holiday event, which is set to draw an audience of more than 50 million viewers across the US, will boost its ongoing mission to double the number of women in STEM – and triple the amount of multicultural women – in the next ten years, which it announced in September.
Susan Tercero, Executive Producer of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, added: “We are thrilled to welcome Olay to the magical roster of this year’s Thanksgiving celebration.
“This out of this world float will entertain millions of spectators nationwide as it inspires, educates and empowers a new generation to follow in these important STEM fields.”