Project Conceptualized by Forsman & Bodenfors NY
While Reuben Mattus made the ice cream, Rose Mattus made Häagen-Dazs. So says the company which, this International Women’s Day, celebrates its pioneering female founder with a global initiative that shines a light on her unsung contribution to the brand and her #DontHoldBack ethos.
On March 8, Häagen-Dazs is offering its biggest free scoop giveaway. Häagen-Dazs Vanilla ice cream will be renamed to the ‘Founder’s Favorite’, in recognition of Rose’s life-long love of our iconic original flavor since 1960. The flavor will be offered as a free scoop on that day to consumers in over 100 selected Häagen-Dazs Shops across Europe, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East. A global rebrand will see ‘Rose Mättus Woman Founded Business Established 1960’ accompanying the iconic Häagen-Dazs logo across multiple touch points in shops and on digital and social platforms.
In addition, the campaign marks the launch of ‘The Rose Project’ which pledges $100,000 in bursaries to support trailblazing women who Don’t Hold Back. People around the world will have the opportunity to nominate themselves or other unsung women who deserve recognition for their trailblazing efforts, achievements and societal contributions. From these nominations, a shortlist of 50 will be selected for their commendable efforts and put forward for the opportunity to win one of five monetary grants of $20,000 each.
The project was completely conceptualized by global creative collective Forsman & Bodenfors NY, who wanted to bring Rose’s story to the forefront of the conversation for International Women’s Day with redesigned packaging that artfully celebrates her story and her role in creating the Häagen-Dazs brand we know today. The package redesign was done by UK-based creative agency LOVE, and it uses a portrait illustration of Rose styled with a scoop of vanilla inspired by her iconic 60s flair.
Clare Brosnan, Global Brand Experience Director at Häagen-Dazs, says: “In 2021, we launched our Women Who Don’t Hold Back campaign shining a light on female trailblazers around the globe, but now it’s time to recognize our own remarkable female founder… By telling Rose’s untold story as a marketing pioneer who built our brand as a true partner to her inventor husband and helped create our Shops business with her daughter Doris, we hope to use this year’s IWD celebration as a beacon for #EmbraceEquity… Finally, we will honor and mark Rose’s legacy with the launch of our new global platform, The Rose Project, which aims to support women across all fields around the world who Don’t Hold Back and who are deserving of recognition. We hope that Rose Mattus’ story inspires talented and often unsung women to share their own story and also put others forward for the grants. The launch of The Rose Project directly puts our purpose to action with the long-term commitment to supporting women and gender equity going well beyond International Women’s Day.”
