Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity- Case Study: Million Hoodies For Trayvon Martin
By now, I’m sure we are all familiar with the Travyon Martin story. Trayvon was the unarmed teen who was walking home from a convenience store in Sanford, Florida when he was approached by George Zimmerman. Much debate has taken place about exactly what went down when the two men encountered one another, but what we do know is that Trayvon was subsequently shot and killed.
Following Trayvon’s death, George Zimmerman was briefly taken into custody and then released on the grounds that the fatal shot was in self-defense. Many in Sanford, including some police from the investigation felt something wasn’t right; however, Zimmerman was set free.
Months had gone by and there was still no arrest of Trayvon’s known killer and no detailed explanation for his parents as to why their son was no longer alive.
The mainstream press failed to cover the story initially, further irritating citizens who felt racism and a corrupt police department were to blame for the tragedy.
With frustration growing, many decided to take action.
The million hoodies campaign stood out to me because it is one that I actually participated in.
The story was extremely compelling as evidenced by the huge outcry and support from those impacted around the country.
The campaign was simple, yet highly effective.
McCann Erickson organized a campaign for the Parks and Crump Law Firm to raise public awareness of the tragedy and the fact that the killer was not arrested at the time, though 45 days had passed.
The campaign requested that people around the country upload photos wearing hoodies in solidarity and sign a petition on Change.org. As well, people held rallies in many cities to march against racial profiling on March 21st-UN Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
The attention brought on by the campaign catapulted the the Trayvon Martin story to the front page almost over night. An investigation of the case, as well as the Sanford police department launched as a result.
The Travyon Martin case became the only news story of 2012 to receive more coverage than the Presidential election and the petition became the fastest growing in the history of the Internet.
It would be hard to believe that the movement started with a YouTube video, were we unaware of the power of social media. Daniel Maree, digital strategist for McCann Erickson uploaded a the YouTube video on March 19, 2012 just two days before the major rally. They had just two days to mobilize the campaign.
Organizers used Facebook and Twitter to generate interest and support to spread the message about the rally, petition, and photo uploads. It became an instant trending topic.
The campaign quickly turned into a movement with over 300,000 photo uploads, 2 million signatures on the petition, and 40,000 in attendance at rallies nationwide.
The campaign immediately grabbed national attention and everyone from citizens to celebrities were joining in.
Even President Obama felt compelled to speak on the issue.
This campaign won two silver lions at Cannes Lions, for “Best Use of Social Media."
It was definitely deserving, as it was a true test of social media’s ability to connect people across the world on a single issue.
The campaign organizers used social media to harness public angst about the tragedy and channel it into a movement that is still ongoing.
I am very proud that I participated in this campaign and pleased that McCann Erickson is being recognized for their accomplishment.