Grey NY, Designer Nicole Cuddihy Have Skin In The Game, Bringing Diversity To Animal Crossing For Gillette Venus

Gillette Venus, which broke new ground with its “My Skin. My Way” campaign from Grey New York celebrating all types of women’s skin, has launched a new gaming activation from the agency. Gillette Venus’ custom designed “skinclusive summer line” lets players of the popular simulations game Animal Crossing add a wide array of skin types, from freckles to tattoos to stretch marks, to their characters as well as clothing. The game is most popular among women ages 19-24.

Venus partnered with famed digital artist Nicole Cuddihy to co-create new avatar designs on Animal Crossing to serve as the largest offering of skin-inclusive designs to ever be available in the game. An all-woman team across all departments at Grey created the communications.

“In a world where there are so many explicit and implicit rules on how women should show or feel about their skin, skin-inclusivity and positive representation matters,” said Anthony van Dijk, sr. brand director of Venus North America. “The purpose of our My Skin. My Way campaign is to ensure that we’re putting out responsible imagery that represents reality and celebrates all types of skin, while also spotlighting the diverse skin stories of women all around the world. With Animal Crossing, we saw a unique opportunity to meet women where they are this summer by providing new ways to make gaming a more inclusive space, while also enabling them to gather virtually, safely on a beach to celebrate summer and skin inclusivity.”

On the inspiration and heartfelt purpose behind the designs, Cuddihy said, “While momentum for diversity in design is building, there are many areas where progress feels slow. The fact that I could add scars and wrinkles to warriors or outlaws, but not characters in less combat-driven games felt discouraging. With these designs, I hope that all women in Animal Crossing can find comfort and representation in this carefully developed collection. I drew inspiration from those in my own life to ensure the designs I was creating accurately represented their skin stories in a way that feels real, celebratory and beautiful.”