Written by: Sydney Villanueva
2020 has been a year of awareness for social injustice — there has been significant growth and understanding that there needs to be change in America. Companies have a major influence over consumers through the way they advertise products or services, and to a certain extent, they have an ethical responsibility to make a statement and attempt to make a difference in their communities. Advertising isn’t always necessarily about the number of people a campaign will reach or how many impressions it will get — sometimes it’s about making a difference and being involved in the community.
The Black Lives Matter movement was first founded in 2013 by three African-American women. Since then, there has been a large following behind the movement, but it has significantly grown in 2020. After the wrongful deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many more earlier this year, the movement grew to be possibly bigger and larger than any other movement in the United States so far, according to The New York Times.
A number of companies have come out with exceptional advertisements in relation to the BLM movement — here are a few of my favorites that were released this year:
Doritos
Doritos launched an ad campaign called, #AmplifyBlackVoices. They sponsored and gave their outdoor advertising, billboards and murals across the country to Black artists in the push to illustrate and elevate Black voices in the fight against racial injustice. Doritos has sponsored artists in large cities across the country — Minneapolis, Houston, Atlanta, Los Angeles and New York City, just to name a few. They have contributed $1 million so far in support of Black artists and to the Black Lives Matter movement. The best thing about this ad campaign is the way that they involved the Black community in a unique way.
Twitter
Twitter took tweets that were tweeted by Black individuals on the subject of the BLM movement and made them into outdoor billboards in big cities all over America. This ad campaign was so simple for Twitter to do, but it was also so powerful and well done.
Nike
Nike came out with an ad on Youtube called, “For once, Don’t Do It.” They used their infamous motto, “Just Do It,” to counter the social injustices happening in America. This one minute video circulated social media and has a total of around 1 million views.
The BLM movement influenced advertising in a number of ways. Ads and ad campaigns are now made to highlight social justice movements in unique yet simple ways that are meaningful to minority communities, and companies are continuing to donate millions of dollars in an effort to fight racial and social injustice in America. There is still so much that needs to be done, but this is a start. I believe there will be a significant change in the advertising industry moving forward, including more diversity and inclusivity of races, ethnicities, genders, and more.