Black History Month in 2024—how NBA, Paramount+ and other brands are celebrating

February is Black History Month in the U.S., which has become a major occasion for advertisers to connect with Black communities amid a recent reprioritization of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts across all facets of a business. While it appears that fewer brands have been activating around Black History Month than in previous years—a shift that Black influencers were pointing out as early as last February—several marketers are recognizing Black communities, voices and organizations. For the second year in a row, Ad Age is also partnering with Outfront Media to shine a light on Black talent in the out-of-home marketing industry, jointly contributing to the Black Creative Excellence Campaign and undertaking collaborations to elevate and promote Black history. Read this year’s Black History Month series Sign up for Ad Age newsletters From influencer marketing to agencies, get the latest news and analysis delivered to your inbox Click here Below, Ad Age checks out some of the Black History Month campaigns, promotions and initiatives that companies have been rolling out over the past few weeks. Paramount+ On Feb. 1, Paramount+ kicked off a new ad campaign for Black History Month, or more precisely, its “Black Voices” collection: an in-app hub that showcases Black stories available on the streaming service. Set to “On the Rise,” a custom song by Roc Nation rapper HDBeenDope that was commissioned for this campaign, the work functions as a supercut of the content on offer, ranging from “Shaft” to “Lawmen: Bass Reeves” to “Good Burger 2.” The work was put together in-house. In addition to shows and movies featuring Black stories that can be found on Paramount+ all year long, the streamer has also utilized its latest Black History Month collection as a launch platform for new content, including the marquee title anchoring “Black Voices” this month: a documentary titled “Becoming King,” which follows actor David Oyelowo’s years-long journey to portray Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the award-winning 2014 film “Selma.” Cricket Wireless Mobile carrier Cricket Wireless debuted “You Can Call On Me,” a social media campaign designed to uplift underrepresented Black American “changemakers” in recognition of Black History Month. The work, developed by agencies Hearts & Science, Group Black and Dieste, stars a member of the historically Black sorority Delta Sigma Theta: Christina Richardson, an award-winning filmmaker and alumna of historically Black university (HBCU) Benedict College who founded the non-profit organization The Bronx Film Initiative. She tells her story in a custom video that was posted to Cricket’s social channels at the beginning of the month. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Cricket Wireless (@cricketwireless) Target While Target emphasizes that it makes an effort to promote Black creators all year long, the company pays special attention to them in February with its yearly Black History Month Collection, which highlights a range of Black-owned or designed products from clothing to books to home goods—including a few exclusive partnerships—by brands such as House of Aama, Legendary Rootz and Black Men Smile. Also prominently featured in Target’s 2024 Black History Month Collection is the work of the three winners of last year’s HBCU Design Challenge, an annual contest the retailer holds to solicit themed submissions for clothing and accessories that foster “an even deeper connection with our guests and our community,” according to its website. Additionally, Target created an icon featuring five skin-colored hearts for customers on its website to easily recognize if a product or brand is Black-owned or founded. The company’s Black History Month efforts have not been without stumbling blocks, though. At the beginning of February, for example, Target was criticized for carrying—and subsequently pulled—a book that misidentified three civil rights icons. Revolt Black-owned media company Revolt has deployed artificial intelligence to reimagine Black history, commissioning nearly a dozen AI artists to depict alternate histories and utopian futures for Black Americans. The Instagram-focused series “Imagine If?” is designed to contrast the typical empowering quotes and images of Black leaders that often define brands’ Black History Month efforts. Each of the roughly 60 posts contains “imagine if” prompts that encourage users to think critically about Black peoples’ role in the world’s past, present and future; “Imagine if America’s earliest colonizers didn’t have the backs and blood of Black people to build the country upon,” one video posted Feb. 5 asks. The campaign’s extensive use of AI was done on purpose, crafted to help people think of Revolt as a company that creates content with emerging tech, rather than as just a traditional cable programmer, Revolt CEO Detavio Samuels recently told Ad Age. View this post on Instagram A post shared by REVOLT (@revolttv) The Honey Pot Co. On the heels of a recent $380 million partnership inked with Compass Diversified, Black-owned feminine hygiene brand The Honey Pot Co. teamed up with Target and an HBCU for the third straight year to host its community-minded Reclaiming Wellness event. (The brand’s Reclaiming Wellness campaign technically runs all year long, but receives particular attention and investment during February for Black History Month.) Taking place in person in Washington at Howard University, the Feb. 21 gathering centered on six different wellness experiences that were available to both students and the general public, including a panel on community well-being hosted by Honey Pot’s CEO and founder, Beatrice Dixon; a tea sampling seminar hosted by Brooklyn Tea; and a sound bath led by yoga instructor and wellness consultant Tara Aura. It was free to attend, though advanced registration via the event’s custom microsite was required. Biden-Harris 2024 and Republican efforts Earlier this month, President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign launched a slate of ads across radio, digital and print media designed to court Black voters in a number of key battleground states. Leaning into Black History Month—“Black history is American history,” the radio spots say—this latest political marketing effort spotlights notable African-Americans connected to Biden’s administration, including Vice President Kamala Harris, the first Black woman to hold that office, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black female Supreme Court justice. The campaign, which has focused its print component on Black-owned newspapers, the Hill reports, will run through Feb. 26 in Georgia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and other swing states vital to winning the presidency in November. Across the aisle, Republicans have also been undertaking their fair share of efforts to sway Black voters, with the GOP this month hosting in-person events to connect with Black communities around the country, according to the Associated Press. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, who is Black—and is on presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump’s shortlist for vice president—has been working particularly hard lately to bring conservatives’ message to the coveted voting block. NBA A regular celebrant of Black History Month, the National Basketball Association has a slate of original digital and experiential content. Ranging from the NBA’s third annual HBCU Classic to videos of some of basketball’s top stars explaining why it’s important to recognize Black Americans’ contributions to the country, the league’s efforts are aggregated in an online hub that’s headlined “Built by Black History, Elevated by Black Voices.” Many individual NBA teams have also been bringing their own individual Black History Month initiatives to the table. The Utah Jazz, for example, developed its own “Black Book”—a take on the Jim Crow-era “Green Book” travel guide—to highlight and promote Black-owned businesses around the Beehive State; the Golden State Warriors have been hosting community events to empower local Black communities; and on Feb. 10, the Portland Trail Blazers hosted their annual Black History Night at a home game against New Orleans, among other activations. Urban Outfitters Urban Outfitters launched a wide-ranging Black History Month initiative on Feb. 1 that champions Black Americans’ creativity, with a particular emphasis on 1970s aesthetics that flourished in the post-civil rights movement era. Dubbed “Freedom of Expression: Skate Expectations,” the retailer’s campaign borrows inspiration from the “soul nights” held at roller rinks that offered Black people “a way to freely express themselves, from the music they listened to, to the clothes they wore,” said Cierra Yetts, senior integrated brand marketing manager at Urban Outfitters. In addition to the digital and in-store campaign component running throughout February, the company has also developed a new artist-in-residence program to support Black-owned apparel brands such as Pish Posh World, Troy Browne and And The B Is For, working with them to create limited-edition capsule collections that have been supported by experiential activations in New York and Philadelphia, which will culminate with a shoppable roller disco pop-up on Feb. 28. Urban Outfitters is also continuing its work with the non-profit Creatives Want Change, which aims to foster Black creative talent beginning at the high school level.

Black History Month in 2024—how NBA, Paramount+ and other brands are celebrating

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