Paywall Down was born to change the way to access and pay for the contents of news websites. The idea demonstrates an inspiring and innovative implementation of media insight. L'Oréal Paris paid to turn down all harassment news paywalls through a partnership with the largest communication group in Brazil.

Creating an authentic and unprecedented media action which turned advertising budget into investment in information to fight fake news and disinformation. This amplified our results through a revolutionary channel strategy.

Brazil is a very sexist and violent country. 88% of Brazilian women have already been harassed on streets. And to make matters worse, reliable information that could educate the population does not circulate freely. 75% of Brazil's population reads fake news daily. And only 1% pays for news. Information needed to be spread out to educate people.

L'Oréal Paris and NGO Hollaback! have been fighting together with women for years. This time in Brazil, the fight was against misinformation. And to help in a way that would effectively transform the situation, L'Oréal Paris decided to act differently. Investment in advertising has turned into investment in information.

A partnership with the largest communication group in Brazil was created. And L'Oréal Paris paid them to tear down all paywalls so the entire population would have free access to all stories about harassment.

In Brazil, only 1% of the population pays for quality information, which makes fake news gain even more strength. L'Oréal Paris and NGO Hollaback! wanted to change that situation when it came to harassment. And the only quick and effective way to bring quality information to more than 1% of the population was to take down the paywall. And that was done and soon it paid off. Visits to harassment articles increased by 2611%, showing that people are interested in the topic and just needed someone to release it to them.

Paywall Down was simple and bold. L'Oréal Paris and NGO Hollaback! achieved something unprecedented with the largest communication group in Brazil: changing the way of charging for reading articles. Through a partnership, L'Oréal Paris paid for the websites of the largest magazines in the country to give free access to all articles about harassment. And that has already brought a huge increase in traffic. There were 122 million new hits, representing an increase of 2611% in visits to articles about harassment.

As a result of this action, all people were able to access information about harassment for free, thus educating themselves and having more tools to fight harassment.

Paywall Down has achieved impressive numbers:

2611% more pageviews on news about harassment

300% growth only in GQ magazine, mostly aimed at the male audience

122 million new hits on the websites

6 million pageviews in spontaneous media

706k people completed training on the Stand Up platform

And impact:

Paywall teardown became a new media format for partner communication groups

L'Oréal Paris expanded its brand values, as a brand that combats fake news and enhances the free circulation of information.

The partnership also became talks and special articles.