Top 5 diversity, equity and inclusion efforts to know about right now

Ad Age is kicking off the new year by highlighting several creative efforts that address issues such as homelessness and stigmas around HIV, along with branded efforts that continue existing commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Here are the top 5 moments from this past month:

5. Shelter

Homeless charity Shelter’s holiday campaign at the end of last year addresses homelessness during the cold, holiday season. 

The UK-based charity paired images of outdoor spaces like park benches and bus shelters, adorned with Christmas lights, with the saying “This is no place to spend Christmas." The campaign was created by AMV BBDO and supported by Posterscope and MG OMD.

In 2021, Shelter released a short Christmas film, “The Drive,” to raise awareness about homelessness.

On Jan. 5, Reebok launched the Yard Love Apparel Collection, a hoodie and t-shirt capsule honoring historically Black Greek organizations across the country.

Offered in seven colorways used by various Black fraternities and sororities, the campaign is the latest initiative in support of Reebok’s United Against Racism commitments. The brand’s commitments, which began in 2020, encompass efforts such as the relaunch of the Reebok Human Rights Award and the creation of “Product with Purpose”—in which the brand’s product team focuses on producing a long-term product platform related to human rights.

In addition to the launch, Reebok is pledging to donate $25,000 to the United Negro College Fund, the nation’s largest private scholarship provider to minority students.

3. Casey House

Canadian hospital Casey House released a 20-minute horror film on Dec. 24 aimed at destigmatizing individuals living with HIV.

As part of Casey House’s “Smash Stigma” campaign, the film, “Others,” depicts a man, played by HIV-positive actor Peter McPherson, being targeted by a group of people. “Others” was handled by the Canadian independent agency Bensimon Byrne.

“When I first read the 'Others' casting call for an HIV+ actor I thought this sounded like an interesting project I wanted to be a part of,” said McPherson. “But when I read the script, I instantly felt an intimate connection to the character. I get what the character has gone through,” he said.

Casey House has also produced a series of videos of individuals speaking about their experiences facing HIV stigmas. 

Last month, American Express teamed up with livestream shopping platform NTWRK to showcase three Black visual artists—Gianni Lee, Sabrena Khadija and Adrian Brandon. As part of the initiative, the artists created a product using a format or medium they’ve never experimented with before. Fans were able to purchase the three products from the artists on Dec. 9 exclusively on the NTWRK app.

Multidisciplinary visual artist Gianni Lee designed an original pair of jeans, featuring his signature embroidered skeleton motif. The jeans take inspiration from Lee’s street art, which can be found in Paris, London, Bulgaria, New York City, Cuba, Los Angeles and Philadelphia. He also produced an aluminum card holder featuring the same skeleton motif.

Sabrena Khadija is a DC-based Sierra-Leonean American illustrator, who worked with a large canvas and mixed media. Their artwork was also made available on glassware.  

Inspired by biking, Brooklyn-based multimedia artist Adrian Brandon created a large mixed media piece on canvas, incorporating his own photography, pastels, paint, ink and graphite, along with a matching poly-satin scarf. 

1. Listerine

On Dec. 16, Listerine released a music video to raise awareness of children born with a cleft lip or palate. 

The music video sees kids from Thailand who have undergone surgery, performing a special version of Thai music composer Boyd Kosiyabong’s song “You’re my breath.” The choir’s rendition was created without instruments, using only the children’s voices. The choir was selected based on audition videos sent in on TikTok.

Listerine partnered with pharmacy chain Watsons, nonprofit Operation Smile and agency BBDO Bangkok on the project.