8 Brand Campaigns that supported the anti-racist movement
Since the killing of George Floyd by the police in Minneapolis, brands have tried to assert their position against racism and injustice in the workspace. Many advertisements were launched during this period despite the pandemic. We discuss here 8 ads released on social media platforms, TV and out-of-home, that are prominent and became popular among the public because they took the strong anti-racist position.
Nike
Nike brought out an ad that was evidently against racism within four days of George Floyd’s death. It brought out a 60 seconds video with the idea “For once, don’t do it”, playing on its own catchline ‘Just do it. As one of the first campaigns after the death of Floyd, it incited similar statements and feelings against racism and also similar campaigns from other brands.
It was not free of criticism as many accused the brand of profiting from the adverse social situation. But Nike went forth by announcing financial support for those organisations that stood for social justice. In 2021 Nike made another commitment by investing in Black Girl Venture, a programme that supports Black women founders by providing them financial literacy. Within itself, Nike set targets to provide diversity among its labourers.
Uber
Uber in 2020 launched campaigns against racism openly stating that it did not want any kind of support or investment from racists. It posted its message on social media, billboards, notifications and emails. Later it took the same stand during the pandemic where it thanked the users for not using the app to protect others. However, the brand had to face criticisms on its labour practices which were found to be unjust and the discrimination in price in the non-white neighbourhood.
But they invested heavily in works of criminal justice forum and also in black-owned business thereby emphasising their inclusive policy towards blacks. Uber VP-Global Marketing Thomas Range mentions that its policies were mainly aimed at activism rather than marketing.
Beats by Dre
Manufacturer of audio products released many anti-racism ads after the death of George Floyd. They released a film in 2020 driving home their point that people loved Black culture but not people. They campaigned on various digital platforms like Apple Music by associating with people like Tennis pro-Naomi Osaka, Nascar’s Bubba Wallace and Lena Waithe.
It featured many more campaigns like the one with Naomi Osaka where the beads in her hair read ‘Silence is violence’ and another campaign where they asked to ‘leave racism in the past’.
McDonald
In 2020 it gave away most of its awards to Black activists and spoke strongly against racism. It outlined its goal to diversify its labour force and also made public announcements on how it tried to meet the demands of the customers by recruiting diverse franchisees. It went forth announcing its decision to increase the ad revenue spent on platforms owned by Black, Hispanic, Asian American, female and LGBTQ.
P&G
“The Choice”, a film made by P&G that urges people to be anti-racist. It also had policies to widen itself showing more Black life and including more multicultural female filmmakers. It also emphasised its policy to recruit more multicultural employees.
Twitter backed the feelings of its users by using the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag on its billboards and outdoor displays. It also laid out creative displays stressing the anti-racist policy. It has also supported financially to bring Justice and also funded Black Leadership Programmes in 2020.
ViacomCBS
It showed its wholehearted support to the anti-racist feelings of people by going dark across networks like CMT, MTV and CBS Sports Network for 46 seconds. It also celebrated Black culture by launching a campaign called “Content for Change”. It also took measure to bring about diversity within its crew like behind the camera and on-screen.
Ben & Jerry’s
Ben & Jerry’s, who has always supported racial justice and civil rights since 2016, came up with the slogan “Dismantle white supremacy” which became instantly popular. They went forward taking up topics like legal discrimination and atrocities against Black people in America by sponsoring programmes on TV and podcasts.