“How much good can a pair of scissors do?” That’s the question First Choice Haircutters is hoping to answer in its “#FirstChoiceCares campaign, an effort to highlight the benefits of a haircut to those in need.

Through #FirstChoiceCares, the brand is building partnerships by bringing stylists to charitable organizations, who then provide haircuts and style makeovers to low-income individuals and families.

The spot shows First Choice stylists giving haircuts to homeless shelter residents and food bank users in Calgary, Cornwall, and Halifax.

“It’s a simple haircut, but it’s incredible how it transforms people’s spirits,” says Athena Kalkanis, brand director at First Choice Haircutters.

First Choice has, thus far, has provided over 400 haircuts to date at charitable organizations nationwide.

Kalkanis tells strategy that in 2019, First Choice is working with several different charities including Raft, a St. Catharines-based youth shelter, Mississauga-based food bank Eden Food for Change and The Gathering Place, a St John’s-based homeless shelter.

The grassroots campaign, Kalkanis says, is a way to give back to local communities. In its previous campaign “You Belong Here”, First Choice deployed 15- and 30-second testimonial-style spots where stylists discussed the importance of community and the customers with whom they interact on a daily basis.

“The stylists are still a key part of this initiative, because they take their time to go out to the local communities to help support charities,” Kalkanis says. What ties the two campaigns together, she says, is sense of community.

All aspects of the digital-only campaign are being handled by Tag, First Choice’s AOR.