It has been exactly a year since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis shook the country and inspired a protest movement around racial injustice. Brands saw an opportunity to deliver the kind of equitable positioning that people were beginning to demand, backed by actionable monetary commitments and promises around improving diverse representation in their workforces. 

In the past year, more than 80 different ads have appeared on TV with messaging around social justice or Black Lives Matter, with 30 of those ads appearing in 2021, according to TV analytics platform Ace Metrix. Of course, even more appeared across social and digital channels. Even with the COVID-19 pandemic, brands like Uber and Twitter utilized out-of-home campaigns to their advantage. 

Not all brands wowed all audiences. Nike, Uber and McDonald's still saw criticism around their anti-racism efforts, with people drawing focus back on the brands' own businesses, or pitfalls with their labor. 

We identified eight standout ad campaigns across social, TV and out-of-home from the past year that resonated with viewers and followers, while making powerful statements about race and identity in today's America.    

Nike

In the wake of George Floyd’s death and the protests that followed, Nike was one of the first brands to put out a statement to address racism. Four days after Floyd’s death at the hands of police officer Derek Chauvin, the retailer posted a 60-second video to its digital channels with the message: “For once, don’t do it,” a play on the brand’s popular tagline. The spot encouraged Americans to be part of the change and resist silence. The brand no doubt inspired similar brand statements in the days following as other brands, ranging from competitor Adidas to Amazon, used a similar white text over a black screen format to relay their stances on racial injustice.

Since then, Nike’s video has been viewed more than 16 million times on Instagram, 8 million on Twitter and 1.2 million times on YouTube. The campaign still saw its fair share of criticism, with some commenting that the brand was taking advantage of the situation. At the beginning of June, Nike followed up its spot with a $40 million commitment over the next four years towards organizations that support social justice. Another $100 million donation from Michael Jordan and Jordan Brand was made through the Jordan Wings Program over the next 10 years, including a series of $1 million grants to local, grassroots organizations.

In September, Jordan Brand introduced its “Real Talk” series on YouTube and Instagram, all about how racism affects the Black community. Nike’s efforts continued into 2021 as the company began investing its $140 million commitment with organizations like Black Girl Ventures, a program to provide support for Black women founders; and Goalsetter, a financial literacy program. Nike also set diversity representation targets for its corporate workforce.

“Our brand would not be what it is today without the powerful contributions of Black athletes and Black culture. And our belief in human potential inspires us to lead in addressing equality’s most persistent barriers,” wrote John Donahoe, president and CEO of Nike, in the company’s 2020 Impact Report.

Uber

Timed to August 28, 2020, the 57th anniversary of the March on Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech, Uber worked with Wieden+Kennedy on a racial injustice campaign that told racists it did not want their business. Messaging on social media, emails, app notifications and billboards in 13 cities like Washington D.C., where the ride-sharing app also co-sponsored a march, read: “If you tolerate racism, delete Uber. Black people have the right to move without fear.” The campaign went in line with the brand’s coronavirus campaign where it thanked users for not riding with Uber to keep others safe. While the messaging was popular, it also saw criticism, with some people calling out how the brand came under fire for unfair labor practices and price discrimination in non-white neighborhoods.

The effort came after Uber’s June $1 million donation to the Center for Policing Equity and the Equal Justice Initiative, which works on criminal justice reform. In July, Uber also pledged $10 million towards Black-owned businesses and stated it would double its supplied spend with Black-owned businesses. With the “Delete Uber” campaign, Uber also promised to double its Black leadership by 2025, offer inclusivity training and highlight Black-owned businesses while getting rid of delivery fees for Black-owned restaurants.

"This is less about advertising and more about activism," said Uber VP-Global Marketing Thomas Ranese at the time of the campaign. "It's a strong stand against racism. We want to remind people when they use Uber, whether to ride or drive, they commit to our community guidelines which do not tolerate racism of any kind."

Beats by Dre

Beats by Dre produced a number of ads with an anti-racism stance since the audio products manufacturer first put out a statement in support of Black communities after the death of George Floyd. Its powerful film from November 2020 especially delivered a gut punch by asking viewers: “You love Black culture, but do you love me?” The work from New York-based independent agency Translation celebrates Black creativity while questioning people’s love of the culture, and aired during the NBA Draft and NFL Thanksgiving game, as well as during other games and across digital platforms like Apple Music. The spot features Nascar’s Bubba Wallace, tennis pro Naomi Osaka and influencers like the Compton Cowboys, with Solange Knowles providing the score, Lena Waithe behind the words and Tobe Nwigwe narrating. The spot garnered 53.5 million TV ad impressions with a $2.1 million national TV ad spend, according to TV analytics platform iSpot, and saw a 6.5% higher attention rate than normal. 

“The Beats by Dre campaign ‘You Love Me’ resonated beyond our wildest dreams,” says Ann Wool, president at Translation. “We are proud to continue to partner with the brand on work that celebrates and amplifies young Black voices. This has always been at the core of our values since the brand's launch in 2006 by Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine." 

Later that November, Beats by Dre featured Naomi Osaka in another campaign called “Flex That” from Virtue Worldwide, where beads in the tennis pro’s hair reads “Silence is violence.” The next month, the brand launched an outdoor projection campaign from Uncommon when U.K. soccer stadiums reopened, asking attendees to “leave racism in the past.” Over the past year, the brand began supporting Colin Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Camp nonprofit that empowers Black and Brown communities, and launched its Black Future Creators Program which funds future filmmakers from HBCUs.

McDonald’s

In June 2020, McDonald’s donated most of its media during the BET Awards to Black activists, after speaking out against racial injustice during the George Floyd protests. From a professor to a CEO, the spots show Black individuals discussing their unique professions and their work to support Black communities. McDonald’s also aired a spot called “Dreams” from Wieden+Kennedy New York, OMD and Burrell Communications Group that showed how it supports the Boys & Girls Club of America set against an arrangement of Nina Simone’s “To Be Young, Gifted and Black.”

Around the same time, McDonald’s also outlined diversity goals it wanted to meet, such as recruiting diverse franchisees and making sure its ads reflected “the needs of customers.” Last November, it held its first Media Partner Summit to link diverse media companies with opportunities. Then in February of this year, McDonald's announced it would tie 15% of executive bonuses to meeting diversity and inclusion goals and has a plan to have 35% of its top U.S. leadership be from underrepresented groups by 2025.

McDonald’s isn’t finished. Last week, McDonald’s announced it will double the ad spend placed with platforms owned by Black, Hispanic, Asian American, female and LGBTQ people from 4% to 10%. The company also said it will form multi-year partnerships with diverse-owned media companies. The announcement came a few hours before media mogul Byron Allen sued McDonald’s for $10 billion in damages, alleging that the company discriminated against his media companies.

P&G

As part of its “Take on Race” initiative in June 2020, P&G introduced the film “The Choice,” the first work from agency Cartwright, which teamed with Grey. It urges those with power to support anti-racist goals. “Not being racists is not enough,” it reads. “Now is the time to be anti-racist.”

The film accompanies the company’s Take on Race Fund, also launched last June, which gave $5 million towards organizations that fight for justice, with P&G brands like Olay, Old Spice, Secret and Pantene making their own commitments and initiatives. P&G also introduced Widen the Screen, an initiative aiming to expand the portrayal of Black life on screen and growing its program for multicultural women filmmakers called The Queen Collective. P&G also committed to having a workforce made up of 40% multicultural employees including 13% African Americans.

On top of that, P&G has since partnered with ViacomCBS’ BET channel to air an investigative series and with OWN and BET to feature programs honoring George Floyd.

Twitter

Throughout the summer of 2020, Twitter was a popular platform for those speaking out about the racial justice reckoning happening in the United States. The prominence of fleeting tweets found more permanence in an out-of-home campaign from the social network in June when it took #BlackLivesMatter tweets from users and displayed them on billboards and massive outdoor displays in cities that saw major protests like Minneapolis and Oakland. Messages from Bernice King, CEO of The King Center and daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., and marketer Frederick T. Joseph were among the creative displayed. Twitter also encouraged users to share #BlackJoy tweets, and worked with Black artists to create works for the theme.

In November 2020, Twitter announced it would invest $100 million to help communities of color and a $1 million grant to the Opportunity Finance Network’s (OFN) Finance Justice Fund, which provides access to affordable financial services. Twitter has also introduced its Black Executive Leadership Program for building leadership capabilities, is aligning executive pay to inclusion and diversity efforts and had added anti-racism training to all Twitter employees. 

"I recognize the shift and commitment across a number of brands, but we can’t be complacent; progress that has been made can’t stand in place of decades of commitment and investment that must follow this moment. We still have a long way to go," says God-is Rivera, global director of culture and community at Twitter.

ViacomCBS

On the Monday following George Floyd’s death, ViacomCBS went dark across networks like BET, MTV, CMT, Comedy Central, CBS Sports Network and Nickelodeon for eight minutes and 46 seconds, the time officer Chauvin kneeled on Floyd’s neck. In June 2020, BET then launched a $25 million campaign called “Content for Change” with a spot called “Dear Black People” with music from John Legend that aimed to celebrate Black culture, along with airing original short-form programming and films like “Selma” and “Marshall.”

Along with the media space and BET’s campaign, ViacomCBS gave $5 million to organizations like the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Equal Justice Imitative and announced targets for more diversity behind the camera and on screen, including allocating a minimum of 25% of future script development budgets to projects created by BIPOC and its writer rooms to be staffed with at least 50% BIPOC representation and casts made up of 50% BIPOC. Internationally, the company’s “No Diversity, No Commission” policy requires production companies to adhere to diversity guidelines before budgets are signed. “Across ViacomCBS, we’re united in our mission to be a force for lasting change in achieving diversity, inclusion, equity and belonging for all,” writes Bob Bakish, CEO and president of ViacomCBS online.

Ben & Jerry’s

Ben & Jerry’s has long advocated for racial justice, civil rights and criminal justice reform. Back in 2016, the ice cream brand began posting about the importance to stand up for systemic racism. As soon as the protests began at the end of May and beginning in June 2020, Ben & Jerry’s was there again, this time calling to “dismantle white supremacy” with social posts that went viral, partnered with Colin Kaepernick on a “Change the Whirled” ice cream flavor and launched a Justice ReMix’d campaign that touched on topics like criminal justice reform.

In September 2020, the brand then partnered with the Who We Are Project and Vox Creative on a six-episode podcast that discusses legal discrimination, segregation and violence Black people have faced in America, called “Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism In America.” “Who We Are” is based on a presentation by Jeffrey Robinson, deputy legal director of the ACLU and the director of the ACLU Trone Center for Justice and Equality.