Layla Lusby
Converse
This is an assignment from my People Centered Copywrite class. This unit was on gender & sexuality, and we were challenged to find the best way to represent queer and gender diverse people in advertising.
Research
Research Question: How can we make an effective Pride campaign?
With my research, I aimed to reflect on the representation of those that fall outside of traditional societal norms within advertising and subsequent media as a whole. People who identify outside of the gender binary and those of queer sexualities are rarely and poorly represented, why is that? Do consumer values reflect this apprehension towards these people, or is it the ad industry itself that is hesitant?
Strategy
Based on what I discovered in my research, I made personas to put a face to who exactly my ads would be talking to. To answer my own questions: Audiences are not deterred by LGBTQ+ themes in ads, they even resonate well with consumers.
Ad Executions
#ConversePRIDE
"No matter who you are, or who you love, Converse are a perfect fit."
This is a standalone ad I created to fit within the overarching theme of Pride and celebrating Pride Month. The idea is that the two pairs of feet wearing Converse are supposed to be ambiguous to the point where the viewer cannot tell the sex or gender of either person. This serves to represent the whole spectrum of both gender sexuality, as it could represent a same sex couple or people of non-traditional genders. Theme wise, I intend for it to be similar to the viral youtube video Love Has No Labels, in which it shows acts of love not specified to any gender or sexuality. In a more developed version of the ad, the feet would be closer together and posed to suggest that their upper halves are kissing or embracing. The core message behind the ad is to promote a sense of love over labels and love over hate.
"Paint your shoes & show your truth."
Just like the previous ad, this is meant to be stand alone and released during Pride. The visual concept is a single, or pair, of white Converse splattered with paint from a Pride flag. This concept could work as a campaign where there are different graphics with paint in color schemes of different LGBTQ+ identities. The reason why I designed this ad this way and why I believe it fits into the same concept that I discussed previously of leaving the visuals open to consumer interpretation. It is quite literally displaying how Converse are a blank canvas and able to be customized to reflect you and your identity. In this case specifically we are referring to sexual and gender identity, but this could easily be further interpreted to be applicable to other means and facets of identity expression.
"Androgyny has never been easier."
Same as the previous two ads I have shown, this is designed to be a stand alone ad released during Pride as a means of visibility and celebration. With this ad, my goal was to play into the brand's reputation as a 'gender neutral' shoe, and acknowledge how well the design can play into androgyny and gender non-conforming presentation. Visually, I picture all of the different converse wearers to have vastly different gender expressions. Some may look very traditionally male/masculine, some may look hyper feminine, others more androgynous, or possibly some in midpoints between all of those. This serves a dual purpose. Not only does it provide androgynous and non-binary representation, but is an example of how versatile the shoes are and how many different outfits or styles of dress they can be paired with.