While the world was dealing with the climate crisis, rising rents, and soaring energy prices, billionaires decided to engage in the so-called space race. Causing a huge discussion online, not only about the space race itself, but also about the phallic shape of the rockets. With people spreading memes and the media making fun of the penis shaped spaceships.

German feminist organization “Wer braucht Feminismus?” saw this as the perfect chance to bring attention back to the problems we’re facing on Earth. Namely the still existing inequalities like underrepresentation of women in coveted positions as well as the gender pay gap.

Using the momentum generated by all the media coverage around the space race between billionaires, The Vulva Spaceship managed to bring attention to a truly relevant topic back on Earth. Namely, the still existing major disadvantages that women are facing in society every day. From being understaffed in coveted positions, to the gender pay gap and even to the actual underrepresentation of women in space, the project managed to shift the focus and remind people that there is still a lot to be done.

Causing a big wave of support for “Wer braucht Feminismus?” and their projects helping women overcome these daily obstacles that still exist.

To hijack the conversation around the phallic space race and draw attention to our cause, we designed the first ever spaceship shaped like a vulva, and rather unsurprisingly named it The Vulva Spaceship. To accompany this instantly shareable and memeable spaceship design we launched a petition asking for signatures and lobbied the European Space Agency to build the spaceship.

We created WBF Aeronautics that focused on the scientific work behind the project. A film was launched to give everyone a look behind the scenes of the project and explain the design process of the spaceship. Actors became scientists and engineering experts to give the project some legitimacy – all with a slight twinkle in the eye.

The main goal of our idea was to use the momentum around the space race to gain attention for our cause. To achieve this, we created an eye-catching design for The Vulva Spaceship that was incredibly shareable, before rolling out a social media campaign on all important channels that explained the idea and pushed the launch film. In addition, we approached female opinion leaders and news outlets with a press release.

Due to the provocative and shareable nature of the idea, it was quickly picked up by news outlets, social media and influencers organically, creating a huge discussion worldwide. And when the debate was at its height we launched a reveal video, pointing to the far more pressing issue of gender inequality on Earth.

The main symbol of the campaign was the eye-catching design of The Vulva Spaceship which was instantly shareable. This came along with a 2-minute-long launch film that gave people a look behind the scenes and was spread in all important media channels and a petition calling for signatures to create the spaceship. Over a span of two weeks, we engaged with our audience through posts, stories, tweets amongst other social media content, to keep the conversation going.

By reacting to tweets of big twitter accounts, we drove the momentum and spread the project beyond our own media reach. Creating more scale and fueling the conversation around the spaceship.

The project was featured in a huge number of important news outlets, generating thousands of views, comments, and memes as well as an astonishing 250 million media impressions, headlines in 110 countries, reaching half a billion people and all with 0 media budget. Starting from mostly European news outlets like the BBC, The Guardian and Canal+, it found its way onto social media and news sites all around the world – from Argentina to China to Vietnam and Australia, causing a big discussion not only amongst news media, but also with well-known YouTubers and influencers from all around the world. Adding to the already existing PR. But most importantly by hijacking the discussion around the billionaire space race, The Vulva Spaceship put the spotlight on “Wer braucht Feminismus?” and gender inequality on Earth.