Rugby In The Square (RITS) is touting the important role of inclusivity in its sport to promote an event taking place today at city hall in Toronto.

Rugby in the Square is a co-ed non-contact flag rugby tournament with industry-focused brackets. Event partners include the likes of Canadian Tire JumpStart and Puma.

To get the word out about its event, mustard-yellow ads are highlighting inclusivity, diversity, equity and accessibility messaging, including “What happens on the pitch, needs to happen off the pitch” and “Watch courage triumph over doubt.”

Mass Minority was recruited to promote the RITS event. The agency came to work with RITS when the husband of the shop’s director of media, an advocate for the sport in Ontario, passed away.

The agency was also tasked with embodying the values the sport of rugby, now in its 200th year, embodies. It created a series of ads being placed in the market by the agency’s media division in digital, print and OOH.

The CN Tower will also be lit in yellow on Friday, while the City of Toronto will be doing the same for the iconic sign at Nathan Phillips Square.

“We are in an age where people are rejecting advertising,” says Brett Channer, Mass Minority’s CEO, of the approach to the campaign.

According to Channer, RITS is going after those with a passion for rugby, the primary audience, but also those who did not think they could participate in sport. He says the sport has made an “absolute commitment” to being the most diverse and inclusive sport in the world, something it wants to get the word out about, both for participants and fans.

This is being brought to life in the “mixed ability” game, which features those with physical and mental disabilities, and the impact of their participation, Channer says.

The audience it attracts will be a barometer of success. For rugby associations, the organizations want to see media results as well, earned and shared. “For us, we are trying to figure out a way to measure perceptions of rugby,” Channer says.