Love Has No Labels – Content Which Pushes Boundaries

In recent years we have seen brands and agencies alike turn to issues surrounding equality as a mechanism to produce compelling work which reaches and evokes deeper emotional connections with their fans. Specifically looking at female rights issues, Pantene previously launched an attack on the double standards in the workplace and more famously, Dove has carried out a series of experiments coined ‘Real Beauty’ which enables women to think about the reality of what ‘beauty’ really is.

This week saw another step forward for adland’s approach to combatting prejudice but this time, on a broader scale. Whilst, we all often deny prejudice is something that is not present in our everyday lives, the reality is that we are often making subconscious judgements based on our perceived rights and wrongs every single day. This is otherwise known as our ‘implicit bias’ and is something that the new PSA campaign ‘Love has no labels’ by the AD Council.

The three-minute video (above), filmed on Valentine’s Day in Santa Monica, California, asks significant others, friends and siblings to pose behind a giant x-ray screen. It shows the audience kissing, dancing and hugging skeletons.

The couples then emerge revealing their differences to the crowd — some are gay, some are different races and others come from different religions.

But, ultimately, the message remains the same: Love has no labels.

The campaign which could first appear to be solely a soppy piece of content has proven highly effective across all digital channels and encouraged wide discussion and engagement. Originally announced at the beginning of February, the campaign has built up an online community on Facebook leveraging strong business partners such as Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Unilever. Since the launch on 12 February, the campaign has reached over 8 million people on Twitter and posts from brand partners have generated more than 15,000 likes and nearly 2,000 shares on Facebook.

Whilst the US non-profit council will be remembered for pulling on heartstrings with what may appear to be a fluffy film, they are aiming to prove that similar work can a long way to actively reducing the varying forms of bias and discrimination that plague society. This is a first step in what will hopefully encourage other agencies to produce work which can fundamentally change a range of issues faced by people all over the globe.

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