#LoveWins

After the terrible events of Orlando and the outpouring of love and unity expressed across the global LGBT community in response, here at Emerald Life we decided to commission a special edition advert to mark both Pride in London and to pay respect to the victims of the Pulse nightclub attack.

The team at Emerald were moved by the vigil in Soho last Monday, at which Director of Marketing, Irene Zalami, left flowers in dedication to the 49 victims. In the office the following morning, still very much feeling the emotional effects of both the weekend’s dreadful events and the London Vigil, the team discussed how best to respond as a company. We wanted to reflect the happiness that comes naturally with Pride and also express our hope for a safer future for LGBT people everywhere.

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The main image of the two men sharing a loving kiss at last year’s parade was supplied by Pride in London, to whom we made a donation by way of thanks. What we next had to do was look at the best and most appropriate way, to pay our respect to the fallen victims of Pulse. We all instinctively felt the hashtag really caught the true spirit of the global response to the atrocity: #LoveWins. This simple message encapsulates the common belief held by millions of people around the world – the LGBT community will not give in to hatred. It says we will not back down to intolerance. It is fitting that 10 days on from that awful event, #LoveWins is still trending on Twitter everywhere.

As our designers put together the creatives for this special campaign, we were moved to see the New Yorker produce a ground-breaking cover featuring two men in a loving embrace in front of the Hudson River with the Freedom Tower in the distance displaying rainbow colours on its towering roof mast. New York is also hosting its annual pride event this Saturday. 

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And then just yesterday morning, Time Out London published its Pride edition, again the cover is dedicated to the LGBT community. A silhouetted Big Ben stands before a rainbow coloured sky and at the bottom of the page, two simple words: Love wins. 

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Keep a look out for our advert in this week’s Boyz Magazine in London and online on Social Media. We wish everybody attending Pride this weekend, whether it be here in London or across the pond in New York, a very happy and a very safe occasion. Love will always win.

#LoveWins