PinkNews Awards 2020: Nominees revealed for Advertising Campaign of the Year

The nominations for Advertising Campaign of the Year at the PinkNews Awards 2020 recognise the adverts that celebrate or integrate the LGBT+ community.

The significance of LGBT+ inclusive advertising campaigns cannot be underestimated – adverts help change hearts and minds.

This year’s five nominees did this and more. They brought queer voices into the mainstream and helped to challenge harmful tropes and misconceptions about LGBT+ identities that are still all too common. The nominees follow last year’s winner, TfL, which was honoured for its #EveryStoryMatters Pride campaign.

The winner will be revealed at the PinkNews Awards, which will take place virtually from December 2-4.

The nominees are listed below. The public vote is now closed.

Mermaids x Starbuks – #WhatsYourName.

This powerful advert from Starbucks raised vital funds for Mermaids, a charity dedicated to trans kids, and it also warmed the hearts of LGBT+ people across the UK.

The #WhatsYourName advert, shown for the first time on Channel 4 in February, shows a young trans man being deadnamed and mistreated because of his gender identity.

But at the end of the one-minute long advert, he visits a Starbucks where he tells a barista that his name is James.

As part of the campaign, Starbucks pledged to raising a minimum of £100,000 for Mermaids by selling cookies shaped and decorated like a mermaid’s tail.

Durex – Challenge The Norms.

Durex’s Challenge the Norms advertising campaign helped to tackle stigma around sexuality while also delivering an essential and sex-positive message.

As part of campaign, billboards with empowering messages about sex were erected – and one in particular captured the hearts of the LGBT+ community.

The billboard showed a beautiful photograph of Michael Allsopp kissing his real-life partner Sean Somal, and was widely praised for bringing queer sex into the mainstream while also tackling harmful norms around sexuality.

HSBC – Home To So Much More.

HSBC’s “Home To So Much More” campaign saw comedian Richard Ayoade get to grips with core questions around identity – and it had a queer twist.

In the advert, Ayoade asks: “Where are you from? It’s a tricky one. Is it where you were born? Is it where you grew up?”

He goes on to ask: “Or is it where your heart is?” before Ayoade is shown officiating at a same-sex wedding.

The advert won praise from LGBT+ viewers for its inclusion of queer identities – and for its heartfelt representation of same-sex love.

Calvin Klein – #ProudInMyCalvins.

Calvin Klein’s “Proud In My Calvins” advertising campaign featured nine LGBT+ activists from across the world in what was heralded as a glorious celebration of queerness.

Photographed by American photographer Ryan McGinley, the campaign featured drag queen Pabblo Vittar alongside other queer icons, including Tommy Dorfman and Chella Man.

“My goal is always to create honest photos that connect to the viewer on a human level and show the subject’s power and vulnerability as human beings,” McGinley said when the campaign was launched.

“This mix is perhaps my most core value as an artist.”

Calvin Klein partnered with international LGBT+ rights charity OutRight for the shoot to raise funds for the COVID-19 LGBTQ emergency fund.

InterPride and European Pride Organisers Association – Global Pride Crossing.

Animal Crossing kept plenty of LGBT+ people entertained through the first half of coronavirus lockdown, so it was a natural fit that the game hosted an international virtual Pride festival in June.

The in-game celebration aimed to create a “safe space to celebrate for people of any gender, orientation, colour or ethnicity who are part of LGBT+ and ally communities across the world” – and it did just that.

The campaign couldn’t have come at a more important time, with Pride festivals across the world called off due to the pandemic.

The initiative, created pro bono by We Are Social Singapore in association with InterPride and European Pride Organisers Association (EPOA), won praise from LGBT+ gamers for allowing queer people to celebrate Pride safely during a global health crisis.

Deliveroo and LEON – LGBT+ children’s books campaign.

Deliveroo responded to the pandemic in the best possible way – by teaming up with food chain LEON and LGBT+ author and illustrator Olly Pike to deliver free queer-themed books to children.

The campaign meant that anybody who ordered food from LEON through the Deliveroo app could also get a free children’s picture book from Pike.

The offer, which was made available in London, Manchester and Brighton, meant that people could choose to get a free copy of either Prince Henry, a gay fairytale romance, or Kenny Lives with Erica and Martina, a story about acceptance of diverse families.

The campaign provided diverse families and LGBT+ children with vital books at a time when empowering queer stories were sorely needed.

The winner will be announced at the PinkNews Awards 2020, taking place virtually December 2-4. The public vote is now closed.