New Year Honours: The Drum editorial team's organisations of 2019
In the newest issue of The Drum, we award our New Year Honours to the agencies, brands and people who have proved, throughout 2019, that marketing can change the world. Pick up a copy to see the entire list and read our reasoning, but in the meantime here's a glimpse of the organisations we think made 2019 a year to remember.
United States Women’s National Soccer Team
United States Women’s National Soccer Team
Fifa awards $370m less in prize money for the women’s World Cup than it does to the men’s competition. In 2019, the US National Women’s team returned from conquering the world to ramp up their efforts to gain pay parity and, on International Women’s Day, all 28 members of the national squad filed a lawsuit alleging gender discrimination.
56 Black Men
Based on his own experiences and the insight that distrust of black men wearing hoodies is “endemic” in the UK, Cephas Williams launched ‘56 Black Men’, taking its name from the number of black murder victims in London in 2018. The series saw Williams shoot portraits of 56 black men in hoodies. The campaign went viral and in 2019 was exhibited in M&C Saatchi’s London HQ. He also set up his own Peckham-based production business, Drummer Boy Studios, to create a force of good for the community.
Society of Professional Journalists
For the Society of Professional Journalists, Trump's battle cry of 'fake news' undermines the legitimate press and obscures the problem of actual fake news being shared on the web. So the group trademarked the term ‘fake news’ and started sending cease-and-desists to any politician, including the president, who used it to discredit factual reporting.
Led By Donkeys
“Four friends with a ladder”, “purveyors of political street theatre”, “anti-Brexit activists” – these are just some of the terms used to describe Led By Donkeys, the guerrilla protest group whose unique brand of satire has been popping up on billboards across Britain.
Sleeping Giants
Ad spend activist group Sleeping Giants is a social media community that has informed thousands of brands about how they are actively monetising hate speech on sites like Breitbart and The Daily Caller. It has become more relevant than ever as the role of tech platforms and brands in public discourse comes under closer scrutiny.
Extinction Rebellion
Protest group Extinction Rebellion burst on to the UK’s political scene just as awareness of the worldwide climate emergency hit a rare peak. After bringing central London to a noisy standstill with a hot pink yacht and thousands of dancing protesters, the group’s activists headed to Cannes Lions on a mission – ‘Rebellion-sur-Mer’.