Channel 4 promotes regional Pride events in surreal Tom Allen ad
Channel 4 has enlisted comedian Tom Allen for a Pride campaign that embraces smaller regional events outside of the major cities.
’Pride All Over’ aims to challenge the idea that people need to go to London or the other big cities to celebrate Pride.
Channel 4’s in-house creative studio, 4creative, is behind the campaign, which centers on a 40-second surreal TV ad that was directed by Robert Strange and animated by Alfie Dwyer.
Alongside the TV spot, Channel 4 has rolled out a copy-led out-of-home campaign that marks 40 regional Pride events, including Exmouth, Shetland and Folkestone. The billboards carry copy like ‘Queer as Folkestone’, ‘Llanelli – May Cause Excitement in Your Wetlands’ and ‘Shetland – Everyone Remembers Their First Time’.
On social, there are bespoke location Snapchat lenses and assets for over 80 different UK Pride events, which will run on Channel 4’s Instagram accounts.
”’Proud All Over’ is our ’Altogether Different’ way of celebrating the smaller, less-heralded Pride events around the UK, which are in many ways even more important in breaking down barriers than those in the big cities,” said Channel 4’s chief marketing officer Zaid Al-Qassab.
The broadcaster has also tied with the publication Gay Times to produce a Proud All Over Road Trip that takes a group of LGBTQ+ creatives to various Pride events to report on the celebrations. Gay Times chief exec Tag Warner added that, often, local people and stories are overlooked, but that the impact of LGTBQ+ inclusiveness at home is most impactful.
”Speaking from my own experience, growing up far from big cities, I can’t begin to imagine how proud I would have felt to attend a pride event in my hometown, which thankfully now exists,” said Warner.
Blinkink was the production company and Robert Strange served as director.