Havas Goes All out for Its ‘All in’ Pride Fortnight Celebrations

Havas’ Pride 2019 celebrations were impossible to ignore – with every lift in the agency’s King’s Cross Village dedicated to a different Pride Hero. The inspirational stories of Billie Jean King, Lady Phyll, Martha P Johnson, Rupaul, David Bowie and Mark Ashton were told through words, floor-to-ceiling imagery, music and, in King’s case, a grass ‘court’ floor – all celebrating these six remarkable individuals and increasing awareness of LGBTQ+ history, 50 years on from Stonewall.

As well as dominating elevator chat for two weeks, the tributes also reached two of the protagonists – with King and Lady Phyll both proclaiming their love for the installation over Instagram.

If these stories started conversations, the rest of Havas’ Pride activity continued them – with a programme of diverse and thought-provoking activities throughout the fortnight. This included:

·      An exhibition in the HKX café showcasing employees’ brave ‘coming out’ stories.

·      A panel discussion – open to both staff and the public – on the changing LGBT+ narrative in mass communications in the 50 years since the Stonewall riots, featuring speakers from trans inclusion specialists Global Butterflies, the Law Society’s LGBT+ Solicitors Division, HIV and sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust, ParliOUT, and London’s LGBT+ gaming community, LDN Gaymers.

·      A screening of ‘Pride’ (produced by Vivendi sister company StudioCanal), a film celebrating the unlikely relationship between a Welsh mining community and an LGBT activist group in the 1980s.

·      An internal social media competition, ‘What makes you #HavasProud?’- with winners nabbing two tickets to Empire of the Sun, as donated by sister Vivendi company Universal Music Group.

·      A HKX breakfast rainbow bagel sale, with proceeds going towards the LGBT Foundation.

·      A HKX bar night featuring free drinks and karaoke – a bit of fun to round off the week, network, and raise further money for and awareness of the LGBT Foundation.

The fortnight’s celebrations have been devised and carried out by Havas Pride – a grassroots initiative of Havas employees, dedicated to increasing awareness of LGBTQ+ issues, as well as general diversity and inclusion, in their own time and throughout the year.