Egale Canada is reminding Canadians that the fight against acts of hate is as critical today as it was in decades prior.
Launched for Pride Month, the charity’s “Hate Isn’t History” campaign sheds light on the discrimination and violence that people in the LGBTQ+ community continue to encounter.
The creative, supported by agency partner VML, is a rallying cry that juxtaposes incidents of hate in the modern-day with those from the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s.
“Companies have cancelled their DEI initiatives,” Allen Kwong, executive creative director at VML Canada, tells strategy. “Brands have cancelled their support of Toronto Pride. It feels like we’re going backwards.”
Kwong says “Hate Isn’t History” lands with LGBTQ+ rights increasingly being challenged in Canada, the U.S. and beyond.
“We can’t afford to stay silent or pretend hate is a thing of the past.”
Egale explored a similar theme with 2023’s “My Pride Won’t Unravel” campaign that showed a Pride flag being stripped of a thread for each of the nearly 6,500 incidences of anti-LGBTQ+ hatred the organization tracked through the first three months of that year.
VML Canada associate creative director Logan Franklin says it’s important to build on the theme as fear around discussing LGBTQ+ and DEI issues on the rise in some communities.
Three 30-second “Hate Isn’t History” TV spots will be running nationally throughout the summer. Additional 15-second OLVs have been tailored for social media and digital.
Three newspaper print ads currently in market across Canada overlay pictures of hate from the past with present-day smartphone photos to show what many in LGBTQ+ communities still face today.
QR codes on interactive posters lead viewers to video content and street-level digital creative amplifies the campaign’s message by activating at locations where acts of hate actually happened.
New for this year, Franklin says the interactive posters and street-level activation mark an evolution for Egale media-wise. Media was planned and purchased internally at Egale Canada.
“Hate isn’t history” is Egale Canada’s biggest campaign initiative of the year and drives participant to the organization’s website and information resources.
As part of the launch, Egale is hosting a panel tonight where LGBTQ+ people from a number of generations will discuss their personal experiences dealing with incidents of hate.
