Four months into 2020, over 400 Pride celebrations worldwide had been canceled. This not only stripped the LGBTQIA+ community of safe outlets to celebrate their queer identity, but also left the community fragmented. Our main objective of our Pride 2020 initiative was to create a safe space for the queer community and allies to gather, recharge and spread joy - allowing us to celebrate our proudest, queerest selves.
We launched HBO’s first-ever digital Pride celebration on HumanByOrientation.com. The site, which our team built from scratch, hosted daily virtual events from Thursday, June 18 through Sunday, June 28, 2020. Our 11-day schedule incorporated programming that aimed to engage the entire spectrum of the LGBTQIA+ community, including musical headliners, drag brunch, underground DJ sets, queer comedy night and more - all free to attend. Headlining performers included Janelle Monáe, Kim Petras, and Todrick Hall.
We built an interactive community layer into the site - allowing consumers to create a profile upon log-in and sync with their Instagram account to connect with other community members and celebrate Pride together, virtually. Once logged in, consumers could RSVP for any and all events that peaked their interest - they could save it in their calendar, sign up for event reminders, and send events to their friends and family. When a program went live, consumers would receive a notification to enter the site, where they just had to click a button to watch the event live with the larger queer community.
In addition to the live digital events, the site included various elements to keep the audience engaged - including a ‘Get Involved’ page, which encouraged viewers to join HBO in donating to partner organizations who fight for queer social justice.
Our unique Pride campaign generated a total of 148 unique press pickups, a staggering 1.37 billion impressions, 40,083 site visits, from 113 countries, 372 unique pieces of content, and over 16 hours of entertainment. We created 1 global community during an unprecedented moment of culture, allowing LGBTQIA+ people all over the world to gather, recharge, and celebrate their proudest, queerest selves.
