Gender norms? Stereotypes? The pink tax?
Megan Rapinoe doesn't sweat it.
The outspoken US Women's National Team striker has never been shy about bucking trends and standing up for what she believes in. Now, she's ready to apply those same principles — which have brought her fame and notoriety on the field — to her brand partnerships off of it.
"I like that companies are starting to find those little ways [to promote change] and I think do it in an authentic way is really important," Rapinoe told Insider. "It's more than just putting a social media post up or doing a hashtag. How are you actually implementing that into the way that you do business or into the platform that you have as a company or as a person?"
Enter Schmidt's.
"Obviously [when you're] selling a natural deodorant, activism might not be the first thing that comes to mind," Rapinoe told Insider. "But this was a cool campaign because it actually is breaking down some gender norms and stereotypes that are subtle, but I feel like they actually are really important."
Rapinoe teamed up with the natural deodorant brand, which purports to be "made for everyone," to combat the near-universal "fear of body odor" that hinders confidence and exacerbates anxiety across the board.
And despite common lore that natural deodorants don't work well, Rapinoe says that she's "been using [Schmidt's] for five or six months now." She swears it's been effective for her — even through countless training sessions is notoriously stinky Dri-Fit gear.
"That was my ultimate fear of like, okay, I'm going to try this, and other natural deodorants have not worked in the past," she said. "So, yeah, it actually works. I put it to the test — my rigorous testing — and it seems to hold up. It makes me smell good."
"I feel like the best thing I can say is that I actually do use it," Rapinoe added.
But for the pink-haired soccer star, partnering with Schmidt's is about more than just promoting a functional product; Rapinoe hopes to tackle decades' worth of stereotypes and unnecessary gendering within the cosmetics space. As she sees it, if stench doesn't discriminate, why should brands?
"There's nothing inherently gendered about products anyways — we just slap all these labels on," Rapinoe said. "So I think [this campaign is] a cool way to get at some of these subtle, but actually like really harmful gender norms and labels and binaries that we put on people when like actually, we just want to f------ smell good! And we just like want to not have body odor and just want to generally be healthy!"
Rapinoe's commercial for Schmidt's reflects that same sentiment, poking fun at classic grooming ads that cater to men through macho spokespeople and hypermasculine imagery.
Check out the full spot below:
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: Comparing $3 vs. $23 glitter primer to see which is the best for your money
