The fashion brand's campaign fights for the acceptance of differences through personal stories of couples in love, as well as Karel "Kovy" Kovar's podcast
In the case of advertising campaigns, it is usually the case that to have the intended effect, they must be believable. This rule is even more important if the campaign is intended to draw attention to social problems and to try to change opinion in general. Then there is perhaps no better way than to choose real stories of people who can bring their own experiences to the attention of everyone else. And this is exactly the route that European fashion and lifestyle platform Zalando has taken.
Zalando presents enduring social values such as love, but also the importance of diversity, inclusion, respect and acceptance through couples who, through their own stories, give insight into these topics from many different perspectives, all on a very personal and human level.
"This campaign is a celebration of Zalando's values, specifically highlighting core values such as diversity or inclusion, but also naming others such as respect or mutual understanding. Real people's stories mean a lot to us because they give us a chance to connect with our customers. By choosing older couples, we would like to promote the perception of love, which never goes out of fashion and is there for everyone at any age, and inspire younger generations with these beautiful stories and people," explains Dawid Pożoga, Regional Lead PL/CZ at Zalando.
That differences can take truly diverse forms is thus demonstrated by the pairs that could be described as "unconventional" for various reasons. The story of Radana, a Czech woman, and Mahito, a Japanese documentary filmmaker who headed to Europe after the Velvet Revolution to make a documentary about puppet theatre, shows the power of love at first sight (and across the world). For when Mahito visited the Naive Theatre in Liberec, he met Radana in the theatre club there and immediately fell in love with her, even though he didn't speak a word of Czech at the time. The couple's love continues to this day (and was sealed by marriage and the raising of their daughter).
The story of the two Jaroslavs, Sluneček and Ševčík, is completely different. Together, they have taken rather complicated paths in life after they turned forty - yet they are proof that it is never too late for love. And the story of Pavla and Miloš, who this year will celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary and have also raised two sons together, is also a clear indication of love for life, but also of what mutual respect and understanding should look like.
Throughout the campaign, photographs and videos of these couples will be published, all in line with the fact that May is considered the month of love in the Czech Republic. And since Zalando's ambassador is Karel "Kovy" Kovář, the brand has also prepared a series of podcasts together with him under the title "Dressed with love". Hopefully, this campaign will also contribute to promoting intergenerational dialogue and, in general, to understanding the fact that love has countless possible forms - but which ultimately do not matter. Because there is only one love.
