Pedestal Project
Color Of Change
Issue 59 | June 2021
Agency
BBDO New York
Creative Team
Chief Creative Officer, Worldwide David Lubars Executive Creative Directors Daniela Vojta, Susan Young SVP Senior Creative Director Peter Alsante Associate Creative Directors Anshumani Khanna, Jess Andrews
Production Team
Executive Producer, Content Jessica Coccaro Producer, Content Star Wingate-Bey Statue Sculpture Artist Spencer Evans Designer Melanie Coyne
Other Credits
Managing Director Steven Panariello SVP Senior Director Lindsey Cash Account Managers Dani Gredoña, Alexandra Castellanos VP Strategy Director Jen Leung VP Communications Director Kate Kelley Communications Manager Kaley Turner
Date
February 2021
Background
In 2020, racial inequalities reached a tipping point in America. Color of Change, the country’s largest online racial justice organisation wanted to create a campaign to combat the oppressive symbols of racism that have been glorified in towns and cities across the country.
Idea
All across the country, confederate statues that symbolised America’s racist past were pulled down leaving behind empty plinths.
Using their phones, an Augmented Reality experience was created on Instagram that gave people the power to place symbols of equality where symbols of racism once stood.
Now prominent Black Civil Rights activists like Congressman John Lewis, Black Lives Matter Co-founder Alicia Garza and Activist Chelsea Miller could replace Stonewall Jackson and Jefferson Davis.
When launched, users could also listen to an immersive audio experience and hear the activists talk about why change is worth fighting for. Launched at the start of Black History Month, the campaign helped replace centuries of hate with hope, all using a phone.
Results
With zero media dollars spent and over 600 million impressions earned in the month the campaign was promoted, the impact was strong across 48 countries who saw, read, experienced, and shared the initiative.
Color Of Change saw a 200% spike in their website traffic, and the brand was searched for 1.5x times more on the day of launch. It got them to 50,000 signatures of the online petition. The response saw 96% positive sentiment in February, compared to 80% with Black History Month content on the internet.
Our Thoughts
Truth is not absolute. And history is often a matter of rearranging the evidence of the past to suit the historian’s cultural and philosophical perspectives in the present. At last, black history is being told and, understandably, much of it deals with exploitation, segregation and misappropriation. What I like about this is that it creates heroes. The app tells the stories of people who are admirable and inspiring irrespective of the colour of their skin. Black history needs its apologists as well as its warriors.