Our Statement: PinkNews Awards and Fossil Free Pride

The PinkNews Awards is a space where for many years LGBTQIA+ people have come together to celebrate our progress as a movement. 

Outvertising is proud to have been nominated this year, in part, for our successful campaigning during Pride Month urging brands to stand proudly behind their Pride campaigns during a year where they have been met with coordinated attacks. Even more so as our work is delivered by a group of volunteers who work with organisations large and small to achieve our mission to make the marketing and advertising industry completely LGBTQIA+ inclusive. We do this through supporting the queer community working in the sector, and by encouraging better, and more authentic representation of our community in the output of the industry.

Fossil Free Pride has a right to protest. As a wider movement that is born from protest we should respect that by listening to the argument they are making and the action they are seeking. Every industry and every business has a role to play in ensuring we invest in the tools, talent and thinking that pushes towards a sustainable future.

As an organisation, we encourage advertisers and agencies to act as “good corporate citizens” through inclusion, representation and policy. We hold ourselves accountable in the same way, and being aware of our impact on and contribution to the climate emergency makes up an important part of that. Of course, we encourage those we work with to do the same. For our own Outvertising events, we do not accept sponsorship from organisations that Fossil Free Pride have recommended avoiding. Specifically, those fossil fuel corporations listed in the Carbon Underground 200 and those that feature on the latest Banking on Climate Chaos report.

It should be noted that it has become harder to develop sponsorships for LGBTQIA+ events this year. We must acknowledge that there is a nervousness from organisations to align publicly with and advocate for our community due to the rise in anti-trans sentiment in particular. We’re currently experiencing this with our own event taking place next month.

As a volunteer organisation we have to stay laser focused on our mission and purpose. To this end, we cannot police everyone that our partners work with, or investigate the depth of the reasoning behind those partnerships. But we have spoken with both Fossil Free Pride and PinkNews prior to making this statement and have encouraged dialogue.

We hope that PinkNews will be listening to Fossil Free Pride’s message and work hard to do what is right and important. 

As ever, our mission stays the same: to make the UK marketing and advertising industry completely LGBTQIA+ inclusive. And we look forward to tonight’s event.

Marty Davies, Joint CEO of Outvertising, appointed to the Mayor of London’s Advertising Steering Group

Today, we’re very pleased to announce that our Joint CEO, Marty Davies (she/they) has been appointed to the Mayor of London’s Advertising Steering Group (the Group) which oversees the implementation of Transport for London’s (TfL) Advertising Policy.

 The Group is chaired by Dr Mee Ling Ng OBE. Marty has been newly appointed at the same time as disability, inclusion & accessibility specialist Shani Dhanda and both will be working alongside a number of leading industry figures including Deputy Mayor of Transport, Seb Dance and Chair of ad agency MullenLowe, Tom Knox.

The Group, formed in 2016 with its first meeting in 2017, was established to provide strategic advice and guidance about TfL’s Advertising Policy and to help TfL and its partners to ensure advertisements are responsible and respectful whilst also generating the much-needed revenue to reinvest in the transport network. The Advertising Policy sets out the standards for commercial advertising that will be accepted on TfL’s advertising estate, one of the most significant advertising estates in the world,  and is put into practice on TfL’s behalf by its advertising partners.

Marty has been invited to join as an industry expert and LGBTQIA+ advocate. She will be working hard to ensure that the advertising industry follows clear guidelines and promotes a collaborative approach to advertising development. Their goal is to enable and encourage brands to produce advertising that reflects the diverse audience on the TfL network, with a particular focus on the LGBTQIA+ community.

This announcement follows the launch of Outvertising’s Pride month intervention, which has seen 120+ organsaitions support the LGBTQIA+ community by committing to braving an organised campaign of backlash against brands including Trans+ talent in their ads. Organisations have called for brands to back up their inclusion pledges with meaningful action and divesting from media that profit from disinformation. 

Marty was also recently appointed as Campaign Magazine’s first transgender columnist. Through their monthly column – A Queer View – Marty will be using this platform to further address the issue of representation in advertising and hold the industry to account for the ways brands and agencies can influence media coverage of the LGBTQIA+ community. 

Marty said of their appointment: "It's very important to me that LGBTQIA+ people are usualised in our media. It’s my belief that positive authentic representation of our community will reduce hate speech and hate crime. In England and Wales, hate crime relating to sexual orientation has increased by 126% over the past five years, and 156% for trans people over the same period.

Advertising is one of the most ubiquitous media there is and TfL's advertising estate is one of the most iconic in the world. I hope through my appointment that I can be part of that continued effort to further develop the TfL advertising estate as a place where queer and Trans+ Londoners see themselves. A place where we continue to celebrate our community and drive acceptance."

Chair of the Group, Dr Mee Ling Ng OBE, commented: “I was delighted to welcome Marty Davies to the Advertising Steering Group and look forward to the important perspective they will bring to our meetings with their lived and professional experience. The role of the Advertising Steering Group is to oversee TfL’s Advertising Policy and its application across TfL’s extensive advertising estate. It is really important we have diverse representation on the Group to reflect the diversity of our communities in London.”

100+ organisations tell brands to stand behind their campaigns this Pride Month by endorsing our intervention

Backers include leading agency networks, advocacy groups, media owners, charities and Pride organisers

We’re thrilled to report that over 100 organisations have endorsed our Pride statement, calling for businesses to stand behind their campaigns this Pride month. 

The statement has been endorsed by industry networks, agencies and advocacy groups including the WFA (World Federation of Advertisers), ISBA, Advertising Association, DMA, The Marketing Society, IAB UK, The Alliance of Independent Agencies, dentsu, OMG UK, Mindshare, EssenceMediacom, adam&eveDDB, Ogilvy UK, Grey London, Publicis Egalite, VMLY&R, The Social Element, The&Partnership, RAPP UK, D&AD, WACL, Pocc, WPP Unite and Trans+ Adland. 

There has also been an outpouring of support from other advocacy and community groups, charities and Pride organisations including Pride in London, InterPride, Queer Britain, GLAAD, Stonewall, Galop, Switchboard, TransActual, Trans In The City, DIVA magazine and Gay Times. 

By endorsing our statement, each organisation has committed to stand firm in their commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community, as we call on advertisers to persevere with their Pride campaigns, and recommend a number of measures to demonstrate authentic, effective allyship. This involves braving an organised campaign of backlash, and then substantiating pledges with meaningful action, including divestment from media that profit from disinformation. 

“Active allyship is a year-round task, not just for Pride. The LGBTQIA+ community is facing unprecedented, coordinated attacks so it’s more important than ever that advertisers stand by their messages of inclusivity and support. Actions, however, should go beyond ad campaigns and we urge advertisers to review internal practices and ensure LGBTQIA+ staff are supported and included in boardrooms, photo-shoots, creative spaces and decision-making areas to provide input and have visibility.”

— Harriet Kingaby, co-founder of the Conscious Advertising Network

“This past week has shown us just how vital this widely endorsed intervention is. We’ve continued to see brands like Wickes face coordinated attacks from those wishing for our community to be made invisible in the media. I’ve had personal conversations with those working in the industry that have found the statement has helped to influence the clients they counsel. And I’m certain that there are many brands sitting on campaigns. Our advice remains: run your campaigns and stand behind your work.”

— Marty Davies (they/them), Joint-CEO of Outvertising

To view the full list of organisations who have signed the pledge, please visit the Outvertising statement here.