Toronto-based apparel brand Peace Collective captures cultural sentiment in the clothing it sells, evidenced by shirts and hoodies with slogans like “Toronto vs. Everybody” and “Home is Canada.” From helping underprivileged children to aiding new immigrants to Canada, the brand uses proceeds from their sales to help make a positive impact on their community.

Peace Collective’s founders, all first- or second-generation Canadians, asked for the agency’s help in furthering their mission of doing good and sharing their values of openness and acceptance. The objective was to increase awareness and positive sentiment for Peace Collective with a fresh twist on what they’re already known for: creating an item of clothing with the power to make a meaningful social statement.

Clothing is a way for individuals to express themselves – it has the power to unite people in a shared identity and to express a belief or point of view. To spread a message of acceptance, the team looked to today’s most notorious item of apparel: Donald Trump’s “Make American Great Again” (MAGA) hat. What began as a symbol of patriotism is now an icon of intolerance and discrimination. The agency’s plan was to create something that would challenge everything MAGA stands for, in the most Canadian way possible.

The team took a MAGA hat and unstitched it letter by letter, literally unravelling its divisive symbolism, then used that same thread to stitch a new message of acceptance – “Welcome to Canada” – onto a distinctly Canadian winter toque.

The campaign was centred around a social film that captured reactions to the contrast between the MAGA hat and Welcome toque from five new Canadians; immigrants and refugees recently welcomed to Canada.

From that one video, many more were created and shared over three phases and multiple social channels. Starting with pre-launch on March 31, teaser assets were shared on Peace Collective’s social in the three days leading up to the release of the long-form online film and the “Welcome to Canada” toque on April 2, with the hashtag #UnravelHate.

The team auctioned off the original “Welcome to Canada” toque, and replicas were sold online. Profits from the sales were donated to WoodGreen Community Services, a United Way partner charity that helps refugees and immigrants settle into their new lives in Canada.

The choice to commit to the campaign was not without risk. Peace Collective is a young company, and taking on a phenomenon that had as much potential to rally trolls and haters as it did open-minded people was a business risk. Despite this, #UnravelHate was the most successful communication effort in the company’s history, generating its highest-ever levels of engagement across every social media platform. Campaign results included over 50 pieces of coverage on national and international news outlets, radio and press, along with 2,340,000 social media shares, and 2,500,000 video views. On social, the company saw a 125% increase in positive brand sentiment on Instagram, 16 times more interactions than all posts in the previous month combined, and a 500% increase in engagement on Facebook.