America has a deep history of racism, stretching back to when millions of Africans were taken from their communities, brought to the West and forced into slavery. While this dark moment in time should be relegated to the dusty annals of the past, anyone who’s ever been on the receiving end of the slur “Go back to Africa” knows that racial oppression endures to this day.

In an effort to hijack the phrase and strip its words of their intended meaning, American travel brand and cultural collective Black & Abroad turned “Go back to Africa” into a pan-African tourism campaign that flipped the racial slur into an uplifting call-to-action for black travellers.

Created by FCB/Six, the platform looked to dispel widespread misperceptions of Africa as a dangerous, undesirable destination and redress the lack of representation of Black travelers in commercial imagery. It also reinforced Black & Abroad’s position as a leader in redefining world experiences for the modern Black traveler.

The campaign rolled out on Twitter, where racist tweets using the slur were redacted and turned into hyper-targeted ads for each of the continent’s 54 countries. The social ads then directed people back to GoBackToAfrica.com, a mobile hub designed to address the lack of representation in commercial travel imagery. The content platform used Google Vision AI to aggregate images of black travellers in Africa into 54 galleries, organized alphabetically by African country.

Working with media agency Initiative and data firm Acxiom, the campaign targeted people online with 6,840 customized ads based on interest, helping black millennials see themselves in Africa.

The online efforts were then supported by a commercial that showcased the scenery and bustling urban life in Africa. From vast savannahs to swank restaurants and nightlife, the spot created an aspirational picture of the adventures to be had across the continent.

The campaign succeeded, by all measures. Black & Abroad saw a 60% increase in booking interest for African trips and 88% of its audience said their interest in visiting Africa had increased. The brand also tracked a 315% increase in brand visibility and its online searches doubled.

Most importantly, perhaps, by changing the context of “go back to Africa,” the brand succeeded in stripping the racist intent and changing the meaning of the phrase. The campaign contributed to 89% of Black & Abroad’s audience saying they felt it reduced the hate from the term “go back to Africa,” as well as 52% saying they feel the term is more “hopeful” or “empowering” and 92% saying they know more about what Africa has to offer travellers.