When people think of Skittles, they think of the rainbow. It’s on the packaging, it’s in the colours of the sweets themselves, it’s in the brand’s “Taste the Rainbow” slogan, and it’s at the heart of Skittles long-running, popular, multi award-winning global TV campaigns.

But the rainbow also happens to be the ultimate symbol of all that LGBT Pride stands for. Pride is a celebration of inclusion that reaches right across popular culture, getting bigger and bigger each year. 2016 was a hard year in the fight for inclusion (with the tragic shootings in Florida, Brexit and the rise of Trump to name but a few), so in support of Pride, Skittles decided to give up their rainbow, because during Pride only one rainbow matters.

On 25th June 2016, the day of London Pride, our packs and all our media stripped. We started the day with an open letter to Pride explaining why we were giving up our rainbow.

We then joined the Pride parade in a black and white float, handing out special limited edition rainbowless white packets of Skittles along the way (even the Skittles themselves were white). As the parade passed right through the heart of London’s West End, every single digital billboard along the way showcased our striptease from rainbow to monochrome, as we gave up our rainbow to Pride.

The open letter was also turned into a video for social media declaring our intent to get completely starkers in support, using the hashtag #onerainbow. The Skittles website and social channels all gave up their rainbow too for the duration of Pride day.

On a tiny media budget we certainly got people talking:

• We drove 31m impressions, 56% of which (17m) were organic

• Media cost per impression of £0.001

• The campaign was picked up by major publications such as The Mirror, LAD Bible, GQ and Pride itself

• We were seen and talked about in over 80 countries and 339 cities

• This resulted in a 470% increase in buzz pre to post Pride (Source: You Gov)

• There was so much demand for more rainbowless white packs that we are creating a new limited edition with number one British retailer Tesco in 2017

• Skittles won best newcomer award at the Pride in London parade