Pride 2019 marks 50 years since the community-defining Stonewall riots, a response against a police raid of a gay nightclub in New York City called the Stonewall Inn, and became a catalyst for the gay rights movement across the world. Fido, a major Canadian telecommunications company, has been the celebration’s main sponsor of the Pride Canada for 5 consecutive years. An involvement that goes beyond sponsorship, supported by Fido’s diversity committee that promotes inclusion and diversity inside the workplace and as a brand pillar.

Canada now stands as a haven of acceptance for the LGBTQ+ community. But when it comes to real inclusion, preconceptions are still a problem. We live in a society where codes and values often fit a certain normative script. We ask people to go beyond it, and open up to the way people within the LGBTQ+ community sees key human values. To see diversity as a strength and a source of inspiration. To make inclusion an essential building block in creating a progressive society. To go from tolerance to total acceptance. As an added challenge, Fido’s campaign had to stand out among the plethora of Pride advertising, avoiding any type of virtue signaling.

We asked 4 LGBTQ+ role models to express what different human values meant to them. Doing so, we showed how those values took on a powerfully broader meaning when told through each person’s story. We inspired discussion about being vulnerable with the help of Michael Sam, the first openly gay professional NFL/CFL player. We also showed what it means to be bold with Brooke Lynn Hytes, celebrity drag queen and ballet dancer. We talked courage, with trans stand-up comic Tranna Wintour. And we dove into authenticity with Kaitlyn Alexander, a non-binary singer and YouTube personality. 

The campaign was from coast to coast in Canada, with TV, social videos, out of home billboards and on-site activation during the Pride Canada festivities with a total of 188 000 000 impressions.

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