Smirnoff has come up with a creative way to combat abuse against members of the LGBT+ community online by responding to trolls with personalised illustrations.
To mark Pride Month, which takes place each year in June, the brand has teamed up with a collective of socially engaged artists and illustrators for its #ChooseLove campaign.
As part of the UK initiative the brand will use social monitoring tools to identify LGBT+ Twitter users who have received abuse based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. Offensive tweets will be highlighted by a taskforce of artists who will respond to hateful messages with illustrations themed around love.
A selection of the artwork created as part of Smirnoff’s campaign will be shown at an exhibition on 6 and 7 July ahead of the Pride in London Parade.
Artists involved in the push include digital artist Matt Lyon, freelance illustrator Marylou Faure and Brazilian multimedia artist Lucas Levitan.
The campaign follows on from a report from Galop, an LGBT+ anti-violence charity, which found that one in three members of the LGBT+ community (31%) have experienced online abuse targeting their sexual orientation or gender identity.
“We are proud to have stood shoulder to shoulder with the LGBT+ community for over 20 years,” said Chris Laidlaw, head of Smirnoff Europe. “We feel that it is our responsibility to help encourage diversity, equality and inclusivity in society.”
He added: “Smirnoff wants to put a spotlight upon the worrying trend that Galop has identified, and through our campaign we hope to have a positive impact that encourages a dialogue of understanding, respect and compassion in both social media and wider society. By collectively taking action we can all spread a message of inclusivity, diversity and love.”
Source: The Drum
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