We printed thousands of colorful t-shirts with names to represent all the different people and nationalities in our country. Each with a heart in front of the name. Because of the blind packaging you could only pick fit and size, you could not see in advance what name and color you bought. In order to express love for everyone without prejudice. And that is perhaps more important now than ever.

HEMA introduced a new symbol for equality in the week of Pride 2017. And the t-shirt also functioned as a real conversation starter which brought people together. Moments of recognition and pride to special encounters and stories: the shirts called for solidarity, understanding and just a little more love for each other.

The campaign kicked off with a video starring famous Dutch people, influencers in the gay and transgender community and even HEMA’s CEO. These different people shared their ideas about equality and acceptance, all wearing the t-shirts with a random name. Celebrities and influencers shared content on their own social channels, wondering about the person behind the name on their shirt. Next to that we had a PR push headed a ‘What to wear to Pride’ section in the popular talk show RTL boulevard. The t-shirts went on sale when the first video was released. Perhaps the most important medium was the T-shirt itself: the Amsterdam boats and canals were full of our new symbol for love without prejudice during Pride 2017. With the hashtag #<3everybody on the back, making each shirt a walking billboard for social sharing. The proceeds of the shirts went to Dutch Gender & Sexuality Alliance.

The Pride festival is one of the most talked about topics of that week in media and online and our shirts became an important part of that conversation. The shirts got a lot of attention from the press: reaching 1.4 million impressions via TV and radio, 53 million impressions via publications and 829,000 impressions on social media.

HEMA earned a PR value of 732,000 euros with 0% being negative, good for a 3700% return on advertising spend. On the week of the Pride we sold 10,000 shirts, which meant 1 out of 56 attendees was wearing our shirt that day. The shirts cost 22,50 euros, resulting in a 225,000 euros donation to the Dutch Gender & Sexuality Alliance, a charity that supports students and teachers with different sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions.