The Campaign

The Rainbow Family names unify all Chinese people since so many people share the same surname. It’s a universal form of communication that shows respect for the importance of family, while at the same time triggers the realization that LGBTQ people are part of our family too, and that we are all more similar than we are different. When shared on social networks, it normalized people’s views towards LGBTQ as being another integral part of our community. It also kickstarted the conversation, in provinces where there is less acceptance, so that the issue became a point of discussion, for positive change to happen. Also, the action of generating your own Rainbow Name, was a simple and effective way to make everyone an active advocate, able to spread the message through their own social networks.

Creative Execution

The entire campaign revolved aroung the creation of 10th anniversary rainbow surnames, by combining the characters of a Chinese surname, with a “+” (which is the number 10 in Chinese), turning it into a rainbow, the universal symbol for LGBTQ all over the world. It became a symbol of positive change and inclusivity across the nation. • On the day of Shanghai Pride event, we invited LGBTQ people to share their personal stories and then seeded them on social networks to continue to generate awareness. • Visitors to Shanghai Pride events could print their customized surname poster and have their portrait taken to share on their social networks, as another way to generate awareness. • Lastly, to spread our message across all levels of society, we engaged with influential KOLs to become high profile advocates for the movement.

Results

Rainbow Names spread across social networks and garnered enormous coverage for the work of this small not-for profit group of volunteers.Participation via mobile increased penetration across the country. • In the first 3 days of the festival, participation increased significantly compared to the previous years. • Participation via mobile increased penetration across the country. • Evoked national pride on China’s attitude towards LQBTQ to effectively build the foundation from Shanghai Pride to China Pride for next year. • Lastly, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary, it gave the Shanghai Pride volunteer group the recognition it deserved, becoming a symbol of positive change across the country.

The Rainbow Names campaign for Shanghai Pride was designed to advocate on behalf of LGBTQ people on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Pride in China. The campaign’s purpose was to strengthen the sense of community for those people who can often feel marginalized. Our call-to-action to create and share a Rainbow Name allowed people to add their voice and come together as a family for all LGBTQ people in a way that was non-confrontational and respectful of society’s views. Although the campaign was deliberately low-key and low-budget, we expect the long-term impact to be both valuable and meaningful.

Our research revealed that LGBTQ people saw members of their community as a second family. In China, family is a core unifying value that society is founded on. In fact, 85% of Chinese people share as few as a 100 surnames. So we decided to create a visual device founded on this insight, as a way to drive our message and emotionally connect with people all across the country without confrontation or controversy. We turned the Chinese symbol for 10, which is written like a + symbol, into a rainbow and highlighted this shape in every Chinese family name. These customized rainbow surnames became a symbol of support for LGBTQ people that could spread across social networks. Through this visual device, we could tell everyone about Shanghai Pride 10th Anniversary, create a strong personal connection all people could relate to, send out a message that we are all one family.