#flylikethem
Tuskegee Airmen
Issue 57 | December 2020
Agency
TBWA\Chiat\Day New York
Creative Team
Chief Creative Officer Chris Beresford-Hill Executive Creative Director Ricard Valero Art Director Jennifer Orr Associate Copywriter Amanda Winch Associate Art Director Penelope Vasquez Copywriter Taylor Reeves
Production Team
Project Managers Rick Ash, Rashida Peters YoungBlood Creative Junior Art Director Resident Mike Gains Chief Diversity Officer Doug Melville Head of Design Robyn Makinson Senior Designers Alex Lumain, Gina Pido Designer Alex Flores Design Operations Manager Simone Metzger Web Developer Travis Robie Senior Creative Manager Kait Sutherland Executive Producer Jen Vladimirsky Associated Integrated Producer Natalie Zeller
Other Credits
Business Director Parker Collins Global Head of Communications Anaka Kobzev Chief Strategy Officer James Sowden Senior Strategist Kayla Sredni Strategist Carlin Dixon
Date
November 2020
Background
Known as the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African-American pilots in the United States military were heroes of World War II, when they fought two wars at once, against fascism abroad and racism at home.
They comprised an air force within the Air Force, a completely segregated unit of cooks, mechanics and pilots who were black. They flew nearly 1,500 missions in Europe and shot down 112 enemy aircraft.
The story of how they performed to the highest level is one that resonates still.
Idea
For Veterans Day in the USA (Armistice Day in the UK), November 11th, Lucasfilm wanted to bring the story to a new generation, providing free access to the documentary film “Double Victory: The Tuskegee Airmen at War”.
A campaign with a new visual identity was created to raise awareness of the initiative and the accompanying educational guides with profiles of the pilots, nurses and groundcrew of the 332 Fighter Group.
“Red Tails”, the feature film made by George Lucas himself, was made free to view on the Lucasfilm website https://www.lucasfilm.com/productions/red-tails/.
Results
Of all the responses to BLM crisis earlier this year, none is as relevant and as moving as this. I urge you to watch the documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmcpILi1Rxc
Our Thoughts
As a white man, my reactions to the film went from disbelief at the institutional racism of the Air Force command, to shame that one group of people could so exploit another, but on to pride. Pride in the achievements of the Tuskegee airmen and the dignity of the survivors of the wars they fought. Pride that fellow human beings could rise above prejudice and hate to bring about change both then and, through this initiative, now. Here are the heroes we need.