Ally Hoop: The Equal Pay Mascot
A shocking stat jumpshots a new approach to equality
By age 16, one in three girls who play sports drop out, versus one in ten boys the same age. Fast and Female’s mandate is to empower girls to remain in athletics. To give them a reason to aim high, and not give up.
To change the trajectory for girls, Canadians need to believe that women’s sports are worth competing in and cheering for. They need to believe that female athletes are worth investing in.
A singular opportunity presented itself - the first WNBA game on Canadian soil. How could Fast and Female co-opt this event and further elevate the athletes and role models that kids could look up to, while they were the biggest sports story in the nation?
One statistic would be the answer: Rocky the Mountain Lion, the mascot for the Denver Nuggets earns 3x as much as the WNBA’s highest-paid player. In fact, the top five NBA mascots all earn more.
To level the court, female athletes don’t just need advocates, they need hyped up fans. And as Rocky can attest, nothing hypes up fans, quite like a mascot.
So we introduced the world (and the internet) to Ally Hoop: The Equal Pay Mascot, the first-ever mascot for equality in sport. Ally’s debut came in the form of a music/anthem-led hype video, supported by out of home, influencer boxes, branded merchandise and plenty of social content. All-star athletes including soccer pro Janine Beckie and Canadian WNBA player Laeticia Amihere spread Ally’s message in every arena.
With just a minor league budget, Ally blew up big. Over 100 mainstream media hits turned zero media dollars into millions of potential fans. Ally sashayed her way to dedicated segments on CBC Sports, TSN, Sportsnet and multiple national morning shows. She also made headlines across the country - meaning almost every Canadian got a taste of our message (+90M in media reach).
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