Ogilvy challenges homophobia in Stonewall Christmas campaign

The work was created in partnership with Gay Times

By Creative Salon

16 December 2021

Ogilvy and the Gay Times have launched Stonewall’s first Christmas campaign.

‘Proud Misteltoe’ is a celebration of LGBTQ+ love and is inspired the grim fact that homophobic hate crimes are up 30 per cent in London — an alarming ten-year high. As part of the festive campaign, Stonewall is asking supporters to kiss with pride, beneath rainbow-coloured Proud Mistletoe.

Rainbow-coloured mistletoes were hung in the types of public places where homophobic attacks often happen: in pubs, parks, residential streets, and takeaway shops. Couples from the community were then invited to kiss underneath them, as a way to reclaim their spaces.

In the online film, directed by Luis Aguer of Rebolucion, couples kiss to the track 'Merry Christmas, I Don’t Want To Fight Tonight' By Joey Ramone.

Supporting activity includes digital OOH and a digital version of the #ProudMistletoe for Instagram, inviting everyone to kiss goodbye to online hate. In addition, 100 Proud Mistletoes will be given away via social media.

Daniel Fisher, global executive creative director at Ogilvy, said: “We’re incredibly proud to be part of Stonewall’s first ever Christmas campaign. It’s an important piece of work for our agency, which has always flexed our purpose muscle.

Francesco Grandi, global creative director at Ogilvy, added: “This Christmas, everyone should be free to kiss in public. We hope this campaign inspires people to fight back with love, not hate. We’re proud to have revamped the mistletoe, a 300-year-old UK tradition, into a symbol for equal love. If this campaign prevents just one homophobic attack this holiday season, then we did our job.”

For Nancy Kelley, CEO of Stonewall, the campaign encourages people to come together and reclaim their moments of joy with one another. "It has been heartbreaking to see the attacks on our community across headlines and morning news bulletins this year. Every single lesbian, gay, bi, trans and queer person should feel safe to be themselves, wherever they are. Sadly, in 2021, too many of us still face hate for simply being ourselves. This festive season let’s kiss goodbye to hate under the #ProudMistletoe."

CREDITS

Global Executive Creative Director: Daniel Fisher

Global Creative Director: Francesco Grandi

Copywriter: Francesco Grandi, Yann Jones

Art Director: Simon Robinson

Designer: Sian Hughes, Dani Vazquez, Dom Flaherty

Senior Producer: Stephanie Warner

Assistant Producer: George Ward

Strategy Partner: Matthew Waksman

Project Management: Duncan Howie

Project Management: Katrina Hedditch

Global Lead WPP: Jo Bacon