2023 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

In the weeks leading up to and during Pride Month, rainbows are everywhere. While it’s an important part of spreading awareness, consumers are increasingly accusing brands of “rainbow-washing” by slapping rainbows on corporate logos and making statements supporting the 2SLGBTQ+ community without taking real action.

Support for the 2SLGBTQ+ community falls within BMO’s larger Zero Barriers to Inclusion 2025 initiative to address gaps affecting Black, Indigenous, People of Colour, Latinx and 2SLGBTQ+ employees, customers and communities. BMO understood that surface-level gestures of solidarity are not the same as tangible actions. BMO wanted to build brand affinity and show its values by finding a way to hijack the Pride rainbow, a ubiquitous and obligatory symbol of Pride Month, and create a tangible action that supports the community year-round.

With the increase of rainbow washing and solely performative actions on
the part of brands, it became clear to BMO that not every rainbow actually translates into tangible action. These performative rainbows don’t lift up the 2SLGBTQ+ community, remove barriers to their financial equality, make them feel accepted or keep them safe. So BMO partnered with the Rainbow Railroad, an international non-profit organization that helps bring thousands of 2SLGBTQ+ people facing persecution to safety every year, to make every rainbow count towards concrete action to help 2SLGBTQ+ communities.

BMO turned a symbol of Pride into real action by doing what only a bank could do: allowing people to “deposit” photos of rainbows on their phone.

They hijacked rainbows across Canadian and U.S. markets, allowing people to deposit a rainbow the same way they deposit a cheque. As part of their larger “Pride Lives Here” Platform, BMO developed a first-of-its-kind web app that allowed users to take a picture of a rainbow - any brand’s rainbow - then upload it to the app so that it could be hijacked and “deposited” as a one dollar donation to the Rainbow Railroad. Then, they used data visualization to compile deposited rainbows into a “rainbow deposit box,” demonstrating the actual value of the rainbows deposited in real-time.

BMO created a mass media campaign to call on 2SLGBTQ+ community members
and their allies to capture and deposit all the rainbows they could see. They even let people become walking billboards for the campaign, allowing them to
deposit photos/selfies of themselves in their rainbow colours. The campaign included an online video and social media campaign with a hashtag (#BMOPride). They also used branch signage, window decals and OOH ads to place more rainbows in public spaces to build momentum.

They drove awareness with hard-working traditional media placements
and with QR code stickers in public spaces and in Pride-themed window displays of local businesses. Drag queens and famous 2SLGBTQ+ identifying influencers in Toronto and Montreal shared online content to spread awareness and encourage participation in the initiative. To increase the campaign’s exposure, they also showcased the campaign across their different sponsorship properties on their specific Pride Night events, including the FC, CF Montreal, the Vancouver Whitecaps, and the Calgary Stampede.

They hacked rainbows and raised over $50,000. The innovative campaign
that called on the 2SLGBTQ+ community and their allies to “deposit rainbows” on their phones helped give real value to every rainbow. In addition to funds raised, the campaign also achieved 50,000 rainbow deposits during the campaign and an additional TFC donation of $10,000 as part of its special Pride Night game. Deposits showed rainbows from over 312 different brands and participation from over 624 cities across North America.

Credits

Agency: FCB Canada
CCO: Nancy Crimi-Lamanna Executive Creative
Director: Jeremiah McNama Executive Creative
Director: Andrew MacPhee
Sr Copywriter: Caleb McMullen
Sr Art Director: Hussein Rumaithi
Creatives: Nimy Leshinski, Les Soos, JP De Leon, Adam Tuck, Ariel Riske, Marie-Christine Lessard & Olivier Laplante
EVP, General Manager: Tracy Little
VP, Managing Director: Tim Welsh
VP, Client Service Lead: Erin Howes
Account Director: Leore Davids
Account Director: Ali Gayowski
Account Supervisor: Lauryn Richards
Account Supervisor: Sophia R’Bibo
Account Director: Michael Watier
Account Executive: Élizabeth Breault
Chief Strategy Officer: Shelley Brown
Strategy Director: Stephanie Gyles
Sr Strategist: Ally Dwyer-Joyce
Broadcast Producer: Tania Overholt
Integrated Producer: Anastasia Gal
Integrated Producer: Daniel Rankin
Production Company: Fuelcontent

Online Production: I Am
Creative Director: Ron Gervais
Creative Director: Dave Greene
VFX/3D Artist: Dave Greene
VFX/3D Artist, Compositor, Art Director: Steven Hollman
VFX/3D Artist: Chris Crozier
VFX Compositor: Rob Del Ciancio
Compositor: Julia Deakin
Executive Producer: Cathy Jefferies
Offline Production: Married to Giants
Editor: Nick Yumul
Assistant Editor: Parnik Raj
Executive Producer: Tanja Harney

Sound Design & Mix: Oso Audio
Creative Director: Daenen Bramberger
Assist Engineer: Omid Geadizadeh
Executive Producer: Hannah Graham
Producer: Lauren Dobbie
Media Agency: UM Canada
Manager, Connection Planning: Marc-Andre Giasson
Director, Connection Planning: Fahmida Islam
Sr Planner, Connection Planning: Carolyn Hughes
Sr Manager, Portfolio Management: Lauren Klehammer
Influencer Outreach: REPRISE Canada
Associate Director, Social: Shannon Stone
Campaign Manager, Social: Sami Le
Creative Strategist: Darrell Evans
Content Manager: Annelie Gutgesell

PR Agency: Glossy
Shannon Stephaniuk