C4 Diversity In Advertising prize for Starbucks & Iris
September 24, 2019
Channel 4 has named Starbucks and its creative agency, Iris, as the winner of its annual £1 million Diversity in Advertising Award, which this year tasked entrants to focus on the lack of representation and stereotyping of the LGBT+ community in advertising.
The brand will receive £1 million worth of commercial advertising for its winning campaign which will air on Channel 4 from February 2020.
Highly commended were Screwfix and Wavemaker with their campaign on LGBT+ workers in the construction industry. Other contenders shortlisted for the prize were Virgin Media and Adam&Eve, Snickers and AMV BBDO, CALM and Adam&Eve, Coca Cola and Epoch Design, and Booking.com and Adam&Eve.
This is the fourth instalment of Channel 4’s Diversity in Advertising Award, which recognises the best creative idea focused on diversity. This year’s theme was chosen to coincide with the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots and from the findings of the a study into inclusivity of TV Advertising, commissioned by Channel 4 and YouGov.
The study found that the LGBT+ community featured in 3 per cent of ads despite making up at least 6 per cent of the population.
Jonathan Allan, Channel 4 Chief Commercial Officer and Chair of Judges said: “Diversity is at the heart of everything we do at Channel 4 and we are determined to drive lasting positive change in TV advertising. When it comes to LGBT+ representation in advertising, visibility has increased but as our research finds, LGBT+ people are still underrepresented or portrayed negatively. That is why this ground-breaking campaign by Starbucks stood out and we can’t wait to work with them to bring their winning idea to air. As all the pitches were so strong, we’re particularly excited this year to work alongside all the other shortlisted brands to further help LGBT+ representation in commercial airtime and we’re hoping that as many as possible take advantage of our £250,000 match funding offer.”
In addition to the winner, Channel 4 will also match-fund runner-up campaigns with commercial airtime worth £250,000.