Not a Costume by BBDO Toronto

A new campaign for advocacy group Chiefs of Ontario, created by BBDO Toronto, aims to stop inaccurate portrayals on Halloween.

The hot button issue about cultural appropriation that hit the headlines during the Canadian election isn’t a conversation we want to forget just yet.

Halloween is meant to be enjoyed. It’s the one night in the year we get to pretend to be someone else and dress up in costume. What we so easily forget is that someone’s culture isn’t something to be borrowed or misconstrued.

That’s where the lines become blurred and why it’s important to have this conversation. Many have worn costumes in the past that we may not have thought were offensive, but to plead ignorance isn’t enough of a reason in 2019 to commit the same mistake.

Want to dress up like an Indigenous person this Halloween? Then dress up like an Indigenous firefighter, lawyer, doctor, pilot or any profession. Because that’s what an Indigenous person is. Not a costume.

The campaign is being promoted on social media, through PR, and the costumes are on display at Toronto-based costume store Theatrics Plus.