The Friday Vietnam dresses men as women to crack the code of gift giving for HAPAS

The Friday Vietnam takes ‘put yourself in her shoes’ literally in a playful Vietnamese Women’s Day campaign for local fashion brand HAPAS.

Every October 20, Vietnam Women’s Day sees brands across the country encouraging people to show their appreciation for the women in their lives. For fashion brand HAPAS, the question was slightly different: how far would you go to make sure you actually picked something she would love?

Its answer: very far. The film opens inside a HAPAS store, where a young woman notices a man dressed in women’s clothing carefully trying on a handbag.

Then she sees another. And another.

As the film unfolds, the situation becomes increasingly absurd. The entire store is filled with men of different ages, builds and personalities, all dressed as women and taking the task of handbag shopping remarkably seriously. They pose in front of mirrors, compare styles and debate which bags look best.

But what initially appears to be a surreal takeover of the store eventually reveals a more affectionate reason behind it.

The men are shopping for the women in their lives.

A father is trying to think like his daughter to work out which bag she would choose. A son puts himself in his mother’s place to find something she would genuinely like. A boyfriend does the same for his girlfriend.

The absurdity becomes an exaggerated expression of something familiar: the lengths people will go to get a gift right for someone they care about.

“Vietnam Women’s Day is a big deal in our country. It’s a day when almost every brand is telling people to buy something for women. We wanted to focus instead on the effort behind choosing that gift,” said Khoa Pham, Creative Director at The Friday.

“The men dressing up isn’t really the point. It’s the ridiculous lengths someone is willing to go to make sure they get it right. That’s where the comedy comes from, but also the love.”

The campaign launched ahead of Vietnamese Women’s Day on October 20 across film, social and HAPAS stores nationwide.