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By John Glenday, Reporter

September 21, 2020 | 2 min read

You may not be anywhere near the office water cooler right now, but we still want to spotlight the most talked about creative from the brands that should be on your radar. Today, we're exploring ITV’s newspaper ads in support of dance group Diversity, who performed a Black Lives Matter-themed dance on Britain’s Got Talent.

ITV has drawn praise after running an ad push in support of a Black Lives Matter-themed dance screened on Britain's Got Talent , publicly backing the performance with a full-page ad running cross the national weekend press.

Created by Uncommon, the ad is a response to viewer complaints that the Diversity dance routine was "too political" for Saturday evening light entertainment. Ofcom has received 24,500 complaints, spanning anger at its portrayal of the police, to accusations the routine was "racist" against white people.

The communications regulator dismissed such complaints earlier this week, pointing out that the core message of the performance "was a call for social cohesion and unity".

Having previously praised the "heartfelt" performance in a statement, ITV has now gone further with proactive support in the form of a full-page photo from the performance captioned "We are changed by what we see. Just as we are changed when we are seen." Elsewhere on the ad, the broadcaster further affirms its absolute support with the words: "ITV stand with Diversity."

The performance was influenced by the death of George Floyd in the United States under police custody, re-enacted in the studio by group leader Ashley Banjo who lay prone at the hands of a police officer before the entire troupe faced off against a squad of riot police. It culminated with all members bending their knees to the 'Black Lives Matter' slogan.

Banjo, who is himself a judge on the popular entertainment show, later took to his Instagram and Twitter accounts to share his pride in his role-reversal, saying: "This is what change looks like. ITV stand with Diversity and we’ve never been prouder."

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