On Monday, June 17, Mastercard continued its support of World Pride with a street sign installation at the intersection of Gay and Christopher Streets called “Acceptance Street.” The street sign continues Mastercard’s #AcceptanceMatters initiative and is a symbol of support for the growing LGBTQIA+ community, 50 years after Stonewall.
The official street sign now expands from Christopher and Gay to now read Christopher and Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transsexual, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, Non-Binary, Pansexual, Two Spirit, + Street. Mastercard worked with the city’s Human Rights Commission to sanction the signs which were then crafted by the same company that builds street signs for New York City. The effort signifies Mastercard’s ongoing commitment to inclusion, diversity and acceptance.
Cheryl Guerin, EVP marketing & communications, Mastercard North America stated, “At Mastercard, inclusion and acceptance are what we believe in as a company and promote within our company’s culture. We fully stand by this belief. As we commemorate the 50th anniversary of Stonewall, we want to remind everyone that inclusion and acceptance matter. We have made progress but there is still work to do to ensure that everyone has a way to express their true selves. A day with 100% acceptance would truly be priceless.”
This video chronicles the “Acceptance Street” sign installation, the agency behind the newly named thoroughfare being McCann XBC.
Credits
Client Mastercard Cheryl Guerin, EVP, North America marketing & communications; Jim Issokson, SVP, Noth America communications; Seema Chibber, SVP, North America consumer marketing & sponsorships Agency McCann XBC Pierre Lipton, EVP, global executive creative director; Adrian Botan, global creative director; Pete Jones, Joel Rodriguez, EVPs/executive creative directors; Carlos Wigle, Evan Benedetto, VPs, creative directors; Antonia Orol-Berlinger, art director; Noah Benezra, sr. copywriter; Morgan Mack, copywriter; Lucas Crigle, associate creative director; Mikayla Lapierre, jr. art director; Hope Nardini, copywriter; Nathy Aviram, chief production officer; Judi Nierman, SVP, executive producer; Christine Lane, SVP, executive producer-innovation; Dagmar Wong, sr. integrated producer; Liz O’Connor, producer; Amber Briscoe, sr. integrated producer; Oriol Bombi, EVP, global strategy director; Dan Cohn, SVP, group strategy director; Rosalind Mowitt, sr. strategist; Nina Kossoff, strategist; Danielle Karr, VP, social strategy director; Kristen Levy, social strategist; Eric Perini, Brett Berman, Aude Cuenod, content creators; Jeremy Miller, chief communications officer. Sign Production Company Traction Creative. Production/Post Shannon Botts, Craft post producer; Benny Karas, Craft colorist; John Smith, Craft audio mixer; Ilya Katsap, Craft, Deb McMurtrey, Ted Maniatakos, Craft editors; Christine Doughty, Craft assistant editor; Adam Hirsch, Craft SVP, head of content, North America; Ray Klonsky, Craft executive producer; Amalia Bradstreet, Craft line producer; Dave Waldron, DP; Carrie Cheek, camera operator; Tyler Postiglione, Tim Race, sound mixers; Jacqueline Helene, hair/makeup artist.
How do you top one of the most viral brand videos ever made? Spoiler alert: you can’t. But when Dollar Shave Club tapped Zack Seckler to direct a new campaign to revive the absurdist humor of its iconic launch video, he knew he had a rare opportunity to create something special.
The brief was simple: introduce the concept of a physical “Club” that people would love to join while showcasing Dollar Shave Club’s products and embracing the weird. From script to direction and post, Seckler--an alum of SHOOT’s 2021 New Directors Showcase--was invited to help sculpt that vision.
The result is this “Welcome to the Club” spot which invites us to join a unique, seemingly exclusive but in reality an accessible and affordable fraternity of Dollar Shave Club members. But you need to know the password or more accurately, the two-word phrase--"shave money."
“The Club” campaign brings the brand back to its humorous roots, reflecting a new chapter after being acquired by Nexus Capital Management from Unilever in late 2023. The work takes Dollar Shave Club back to its disruptive beginnings and what made the brand a viral sensation from its inception in 2011.
