2024 Winner

In February 2023, Tiger Woods made headlines for handing opponent Justin Thomas a tampon after outdriving him – inferring Thomas “played like a woman.” Rethink and The Gist, a women-led sports media brand, responded to the gesture by turning it into a positive campaign against sexism in sports. They launched a real-time social initiative where, for every stroke Woods took, they donated a box of tampons to Period Promise, a charity providing menstrual products to those in need.

The campaign generated more than 30 million impressions, a 350% increase in social engagement and a 670% increase in tampon donations (totalling 16,200 tampons). The story was featured on the front page of USA Today and gained worldwide coverage, earning an estimated media value of $286,522 with zero dollars spent. Notable figures and sports media outlets praised the initiative, including athletes like Erikah Neger, Dani Weatherhold and Calynn Irwin. The campaign resonated strongly on social media, with supporters expressing immediate interest in donating and praising the activism – and shifting a negative incident into a positive movement for gender equality in sports.

Credits

Chief Creative Officer: Aaron Starkman, Mike Dubrick
Chief Strategy Officer: Sean McDonald
Executive Creative Director: Leia Rogers, Morgan Tierney, Hans Thiessen
Group Creative Director: Sean O’Connor
Art Director, Creative Director: Grace Cho
Art Director: Shona Massey
Writer, Creative Director: Cameron Spires
Digital Designer: Steven Miller
Digital Producer/Associate Director of Digital Production: Kyle Hicks
Interactive Developer: Ken Malley
Print Producer/Director of Print Production: Scott Russell
Strategist: Anna Shkuratoff
Editor: Stephen Shevchuk
PR Manager: Jacky Le
Group Account Director: Kennedy Crawford
Account Supervisor: Nicole Kerrigan
Account Manager: Karin Torn