Ad of the day: Pride in London shows how far we've come with first BMB ad
Pride in London has tapped into the emotions of viewers with its first TV ad created by BMB, which highlights the trials many in the LGBTQ+ community go through when coming to terms with their sexuality and gender.
The ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’ campaign is the first from BMB, which was appointed in February as Pride in London's first creative agency. The ad showcases the challenges and will be aired on Channel 4, which has donated the airtime for the second year in a row.
As it opens, the short shows a young man sitting in a dark room on his bed covered in cuts and bruises alone, gripping his arms as he has flashbacks to an attack while singing Somewhere Over The Rainbow.
On selecting the track, BMB’s creative director, Harry Boothman said it is: “anthemic because it insists there is a better place than the discriminated and divided now.”
The advert continues into similarly distressing clips such as a young girl being rejected by her mother when she comes out, another girl lying on her bed while cyber bullies send her messages along the lines of ‘attention seeker’, a transgender woman being heckled on the street and a young boy trying make-up for the first time and feeling ashamed when he his sister walks in.
As the tone of the music changes, so does the ad with the young man from the start being joined and held by his boyfriend and the boy trying make-up being guided by his sister on how to better apply lipstick.
The ad moves forward to show other families accepting their loved ones including a young girl in a hijab sitting at the table with an older relative and the young girls feeling rejected comforting one another.
Towards the end, it shows real life couples in the LGBTQ+ community including transgender couple Hannah Winterbourne and Jake Graf, a couple pregnant with their first child continuing carrying on with their day-to-day lives and a group heading out with rainbows painted on their faces.
Iain Walters, director of marketing for Pride in London, said: “We took a new approach this year with an insight-led approach working hand-in-glove with our comms team.
"This isn’t just a piece of cause-related marketing, this is taking the issues of our community and surfacing them in a sensitive and impactful way.”
Channel 4 is donating the airtime to Pride in London for the second year, with the clip running tonight (21 June) during Hollyoaks.
The ad will also feature across All 4 for the rest of the month leading up to London Pride (7 July) and will play across social media platforms. Pride in London also plans to take over the Piccadilly Circus screen on the day of the march.
