Tennis superstar Serena Williams is encouraging women to make the first move in a new Super Bowl commercial for dating app Bumble.
The sports great is happily married, but she is using her new role to empower her fellow females in all aspects of their lives, not just when it comes to finding a romantic partner.
Part of the reason why Serena signed on for the project is to show her one-year-old daughter Alexis Olympia that women can take control of their own futures.
"I wanna teach her that's it's OK to make the first move," she explained on U.S. breakfast show Good Morning America. "It's OK to ask and to say, 'Listen, I want a chance to be in this play - put me in,' or 'Give me this first opportunity.' There's so many ways to showcase that."
Serena reveals she did just that when she was first starting out as a tennis player, entering herself in first competitive tournament when her dad, her former coach, thought she was too young: "I want my daughter to be able to do the same thing and to teach our women that...," she continued. "We're taught as a society that we have to wait, and be second, but that's not true, we can be first..."
The star explains teaming up with Bumble made perfect sense as the app only allows women to make the first move with potential partners in heterosexual matches.
"It's a cool Super Bowl campaign... and it really talks about embracing, and women embracing making the first move, whether it's on a date, in terms of, 'Let's go out on a date,' nothing else! - or making friends..., or just going in a business room and saying, 'Listen, I want an opportunity to have an interview for this job,'" Serena added.
"There's nothing wrong with doing that. Instead of waiting for things to come to you, it's important to take that opportunity and make (the first move)."
Bumble CEO, Whitney Wolfe Herd, admits she has always dreamed of having Serena involved somehow in the product, branding her the "ultimate first mover in every aspect" of her life.
And the shoot for the Super Bowl ad, which will air on Sunday (03Feb19), really was all about female empowerment from its conception, as the production team was made up of all women.
"That was really important to us," said Serena, "especially because we are airing this during the Super Bowl, something where it's something celebrated more for men, it's like, why not make a huge statement (for women), not only in front of the camera, but also behind the camera."