‘#NotSorry’ on International Women’s Day

On Thursday, March 8th, New Honor Society, a FCB Family female-led creative boutique agency in the USA, launched.s a campaign for International Women’s Day called #notsorry that aims to inspire confidence in women to combat their historically-based social reflex to apologize unnecessarily.

“Sorry” has become a word used often unconsciously to be polite or to ask for permission. But every time women say “sorry” when we have nothing to actually apologize for, it undermines their worth and makes their ideas, opinions and questions seem less valuable. Even though men also say “sorry,” recent studies have found that the threshold for the word’s use is much lower in women.

New Honor Society saw an opportunity to create tangible and long-term behavior change by creating the “Sorry Jar,” a twist on the swear jar.

• Use a Sorry Jar like a Swear Jar: As swear jars are meant to help foul mouths clean up their act, redefining “sorry” as a bad word (when used unnecessarily) will help break the habit.
• Donate the funds to charity: The money raised can go to any women’s cause, although charities promoting gender pay equality are highly encouraged.
• Starting with ad agencies then moving on to the world: Starting March 8 and continuing throughout Women’s History Month and beyond, New Honor Society will be encouraging women everywhere to participate by placing Sorry Jars in their workplaces as a reminder to say what they really mean, without apologizing.

The campaign website: www.notsorry.com