Wunderman Shanghai calls for participants to hold hands for Shanghai Pride week
In recognition of Shanghai’s diversity as a truly international city, Wunderman Shanghai has become the communications sponsor for ShanghaiPRIDE 2015, the first, largest and longest-running LGBT event in China.
Started in 2009, the seventh annual weeklong festival aims to create awareness and promote acceptance of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community through various sports, cultural and social activities. Wunderman Shanghai set up the core theme of this year’s event as “Love Is Our Future,” which recognizes the myriad forms relationships can take and seeks to engage family, friends and colleagues of LGBT individuals.
To build on this theme, Wunderman Shanghai created “Hold the Hands of the One You Love,” a campaign that encourages everyone to show their support for equal love through the simplest of actions – holding hands.
While it is common and socially acceptable for heterosexual couples to be seen holding each other’s hands in public, same-sex couples usually face prejudice when doing the same. Wunderman Shanghai wanted to celebrate this fundamental way of showing affection between loved ones, whether they be a lover, friend, parent, sibling or child.
“Hold the Hands of the One You Love” calls for everyone, gay or straight, to post photos on Weibo, Facebook, WeChat or Instagram of themselves holding hands with someone of either the same or opposite sex. On the ShanghaiPRIDE website, a virtual same-sex couple will be shown holding hands with a countdown timer. Every photo tagged #ShanghaiPRIDE will keep the couple’s hands clasped for another minute, with the goal of keeping those hands together for the entirety of ShanghaiPRIDE week (June 12 – 21, 2015).
“ShanghaiPRIDE is a diverse and colorful celebration of all that’s great about being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender,” says ShanghaiPRIDE organizer Charlene Liu. “In a country where only a tiny slice of the estimated 50 million LGBT people are out to themselves and others, ShanghaiPRIDE is a poignant reminder that a lot of progress still needs to be made in Chinese society to help people feel comfortable with the way they were born.”
“We are steadfastly an organization that celebrates diversity,” says Wunderman Shanghai Managing Director Bryce Whitwam. “More importantly, we are proud to live in a city that welcomes people from different provinces and countries, with different beliefs and sexual orientations. This is what makes Shanghai a truly international city.”