Inspired by true events coming out of a year marred by natural disaster (hurricanes, mudslides, wildfires, etc.), Love Has No Labels launched an original short film, Rising (directed by Game of Thrones director David Nutter with screen writer Lena Waithe) to tell the story of a diverse neighborhood that comes together to survive rising flood water, challenging Americans to consider “Why does it take a disaster to bring us together?”
Bias and discrimination are two of the most pressing issues facing our nation today. Most Americans believe in equality (89%). However, most don’t see themselves as part of the problem of bias and discrimination -- 85% consider themselves to be unprejudiced. In creating Rising, we asked ourselves, “How do we get people who don’t see themselves as part of the problem to recognize their implicit bias and actively come together to live inclusively?”
Through qualitative research, we uncovered a key moment when people come together – disasters. Disasters have one of the most uniquely unifying effects on people. Rising builds on the Love Has No Labels campaign strategy of leveraging the cultural zeitgeist and elements of surprise.
Our objectives were:
Our strategy was to encourage action by inspiring people to act inclusively every day, rather than waiting for the worst in nature to bring out the best in humanity. Rising, encourages viewers to reflect on their own implicit bias by raising the question, “Why does it take a disaster to bring us together?”
In keeping with the campaign’s strategy and research showing that disasters have a uniquely unifying effect on people, we created a film (inspired by true events) telling the story of a diverse neighborhood coming together in the immediate aftermath of a storm.
Between 2017 and 2018, the U.S. was devastated by tragedy and disaster. The 2017 hurricane season was the most expensive in U.S. history following landfall by hurricanes Harvey, Maria, and Irma. Mudslides and wildfires affected the west coast. Maryland flooded after torrential rain, and Hurricane Florence devastated the Carolinas.
Rising, encourages viewers to reflect on their own implicit bias by raising the question, “Why does it take a disaster to bring us together?”
The film’s closing montage also features photos of real disaster survivors coming together across race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, ability and age, grounding it in real stories. The film concludes with the call to action to “come together at lovehasnolabels.com” where viewers can learn more about the small actions they can take to create a more inclusive world.
Rising has amassed 21 million views.
Since Rising’s launch, Love Has No Labels has seen its highest levels to date for brand awareness:
A continuous tracking study shows statistically significant shifts in behaviors and attitudes towards bias and inclusion since Rising launched in November 2018. As of February 2019:
