#UnravelHate
Peace Collective
Issue 54 | March 2020
Agency
Zulu Alpha Kilo
Creative Team
Chief Creative Officer: Zak Mroueh Creative Director: Ian Simpson, Catherine Allen Art Director: Caroline Sierra-Bornais Writer: Luke McNeill
Production Team
Agency Producer: Tom Evans, Revital Grunberg Production House: Zulubot Director: Barbara Shearer Production House Producer: Tom Evans Director of Photography: James Arthurs Casting Director: Barbara Shearer Video Post Facility, Editing Company: Zulubot, Alter Ego Editor: Max Lawlor Colourist, Transfer: Patrick Samaniego Colour Assistant: Evan Spicer Producer: Alanna Homuth Audio Post Facility, Music House: Zulubot Audio Mixer: Dino Cuzzolino
Other Credits
Account Team: Rob Feightner, Nina Bhayana Strategic Planner: Stephanie Gyles Client: Peace Collective Clients: Roman Hessary, Yanal Dhailieh PR Agency: Jumpstart Communications PR Team: Tory Crowder
Date
March 2019
Background
Toronto-based brand Peace Collective aims to capture cultural sentiment in their clothing, with slogans like “The Future is Canadian” and “Home is Canada”. From helping underprivileged children to aiding new immigrants to Canada, the brand uses their proceeds to make a positive impact on their community. This mission put them in a unique position to spark conversation around a controversial item of clothing: Donald Trump’s “Make American Great Again” (MAGA) hat. Peace Collective knows the power clothing has to make a cultural statement and the MAGA hat is an example of this at its worst.
Idea
Rather than doing a traditional marketing campaign, the idea was to do a fresh twist on what they’re already known for – create an item of clothing with the power to make a meaningful social statement. The objective was to develop a newsworthy campaign that would increase awareness and positive sentiment for Peace Collective, spark a conversation on acceptance and discrimination and raise money for a local charity that helps new Canadians settle in. An official MAGA hat was taken and it was unstitched letter by letter, then that thread was used to stitch the warm and welcoming message “Welcome to Canada” on a toque, a distinctly Canadian winter hat. The brand communicates primarily through social media and, knowing there was a captive audience at their fingertips, the launch was teased on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter in the three days leading up to the launch of the long-form film and “Welcome to Canada” toque. The toque was unveiled on Peace Collective’s social media channels and their newsletter with the hashtag #UnravelHate. A film captured the reactions to the MAGA hat and toque from five new Canadians, both immigrants and refugees, who felt welcomed in Canada. The original toque made with the actual thread was auctioned off. Replicas of the “Welcome to Canada” toque were sold online, with profits going to WoodGreen Community Services, a United Way partner charity that helps refugees and immigrants settle into their new lives in Canada.
Results
#UnravelHate was Peace Collective’s most successful communication effort ever, generating the company’s highest levels of engagement across every social media platform. The toque was so well-received that the collection was made permanent when it re-launched in the Fall of 2019 and expanded to include other items of clothing to provide ongoing and meaningful support to WoodGreen Community Services. The campaign results included the following: • Over 50 pieces of coverage on national news outlets, radio, and press in Canada and internationally • 2,340,000 social media shares • 4,600,000 video views • 125% increase in positive brand sentiment on Instagram • 500% increase in engagement on Facebook • Over $5K raised