It’s Pride Month, and many of the brand celebrations we see this time of year shine brightly with rainbows but ring a bit hollow and superficial, so we are turning to queer agency leaders to share efforts they believe creatively and authentically support the LGBTQ+ community.

For the first installment, we have Kate Wolff, founder and CEO of L.A.-based agency Lupine Creative, who also serves as co-chair, operations and programming of Do The WeRQ, a community designed to increase queer creativity and share-of-voice in the industry.

Wolff said that in less than 10 years, she’s “transformed from code-switching my queerness for survival, to adapting and understanding the power of self-recognition, to being an out-and-proud creator of brave spaces—striving for a culture of inclusion for others.”

She has purposefully built such spaces with Do The WeRQ and at Lupine, “where our pack of independent thinkers ideate around shared, lived experiences.”

Here, she discusses efforts from brands big and small, including a pair of projects for HBO out of her own agency. “This brand work defies traditional definitions of a ‘campaign’ in terms of life cycle— creating lasting impact, inciting enough progress, and inviting others to take action,” she said.

Billie: Fairy Tales Reimagined for Pride

Razor company Billie released a series of queer-inspired and -authored social content reimagining beloved—albeit exclusionary—fairy tales. Unlike traditional tellings of Cinderella and Rapunzel, these protagonists represented backgrounds, gender identities, and body types featuring a wider representation of womankind, making audiences feel seen while making them laugh.

This industry always talks about letting communities lead the way for shaping their own narratives; this work is a master class in delivering on that promise. Billie worked collaboratively with LGBTQ+ creators to reimagine iconic-yet-exclusionary cultural tropes, through the community’s voice. Leveraging the vernacular of the intended audience— crafted by that audience—the brand authentically used coded language, highlighted cultural truths, and celebrated community iconography with grace.

HBO Max: It's A Sin Time Capsule
Agency: Lupine Creative

To rally a community around viewership of "It’s a Sin," HBO Max harnessed headlines from the story’s era—using social media to repurpose deadly misinformation about the '80s HIV/AIDS crisis. The content created a jolt of awareness around the era’s media language (“Prevent HIV, Avoid Sharing Food,” “Homosexual Disorder”) which stigmatized the community. For each post, HBO Max donated a $1,000 reparation to Prevention Access, a charity providing meaningful information around HIV/AIDS. Celebrities including Elton John and Indya Moore, organizations such as GLAAD and on-the-ground activists like Maria Mejia participated with no fee.

Language that continues to damage the LGBTQ+ community can now be utilized for progress. By flipping the script and highlighting mistruths against the LGBTQ+ community during a time of heightened global pandemic, the brand ignited passion within the community, driving conversation and supporting existing organizations still in the fight. The effort made meaningful impact through donations and by organically reigniting dormant parallels between LGBTQ+ history and culture today. Past is prologue, but also: every challenge we continually overcome makes us stronger.

Jägermeister x Lesbian Bar Project: Toast to The Last Remaining Lesbian Bars

As an extension of Jägermeister’s existing #savethenight campaign, the brand partnered with The Lesbian Bar Project to raise awareness of the documentary covering the extinction of lesbian bar culture and LGBTQIA+ safe spaces across the U.S., pre-and post-pandemic. Awareness and access to the film generated $200K+ in additional funding for bars and community centers.

Physical spaces are endemic to queer culture and serve as both congregation and community spots. The brand stepped in when access to these spaces was becoming increasingly limited, both due to Lesbian cultural erasure and quarantine. These infrastructural campaign elements drove long-term conversation and evangelism well beyond the campaign’s life span. This beautifully demonstrates what we ask for: ongoing support manifested as action, elevating the community first.

HBO Max: Human by Orientation
Agency: Lupine Creative

Human By Orientation is a community and social platform with a mission: help LGBTQ+ community to be their queerest, proudest selves. Following their 2020 Pride content on a custom website (HumanByOrientation.com), the ongoing strategy aims to shape a more seamless, accessible virtual experience around the mission. The always-on campaign is rooted in deep understanding and empathy for the audience; in creating content that authentically resonates, they continually cultivate a global LGBTQIA+ network.

The brand’s “Pride 365” approach allows HBO Max to be as fluid and flexible as the audience themselves. Making space for both the brand and the community to drive into intersectionality and nuance of the culture, diverse creativity across IRL and URL experiences allowed the brand and the community to connect consciously, on both a 1:1 and 1:many level. Mirroring the tenacity and creative reinvention of the community, created moments meant so much when new opportunities for togetherness were needed most.

MasterCard: True Name
Agency: McCann

Since its 2019 U.S. debut, True Name by Mastercard has steadily gathered momentum and community support. BMO became the first financial institution in Canada to offer the feature; customers can use their chosen name on their consumer and small business debit and credit cards, as well as on monthly statements. They can also choose the non-gender-specific prefix Mx. 

Years of rhetoric around the importance of utility over image—about the solving of problems, rather than the visual imagining of solutions—culminates for a community here. By recognizing their product as not only a credit card but as an extension of the true self and a method of freedom, Mastercard connected on an extremely emotional level with those who’ve struggled against societal limitations of gender acknowledgment and self-identification. True Name created new inroads for trans folks, non-binary folks, and allies alike, generating freedom, safety and truth.

As we embark on Pride 2022, I look forward to seeing how more brands engage with our community in lasting and impactful ways. Who knows what legendary content will be born this season.