ANA ANNOUNCES 2022 MULTICULTURAL EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNERS

The Human Rights Foundation and its agency TAXI (a VMLY&R company) won the Best in Show award in the 2022 ANA Multicultural Excellence Awards competition for the campaign “Uncomfortable Truth.”

The campaign informed consumers that their fashion purchases could be unknowingly funding forced labor practices in China and provided shoppers with tools that would help them avoid buying such clothing in the future.

“It’s estimated that one in five of the world’s cotton items are produced using forced Uyghur labor in Xinjiang, China,” the HRF noted in its entry form. “This has been recognized as genocide by the United States, and nearly the entire fashion industry is complicit. Thanks to the Chinese government’s efforts to hide the existence of these camps, many shoppers are unaware of the issue (as well as which brands may be involved).”

Now in their 22nd year, the awards recognize client-side marketers and their agency or media partners who produced multicultural and inclusive advertising campaigns between June 2021 and June 2022. The winners of this year’s competition, open to both ANA members and nonmembers, were announced last night during a dinner celebration at the annual ANA Multicultural Marketing & Diversity Conference in Hollywood, FL.

The awards raise awareness and exposure of industry leading creative multicultural and inclusive marketing featuring powerful cultural insights that enabled brands to effectively connect with diverse consumers.

Out of this year’s 45 winners, Procter & Gamble was the most awarded client-side marketer with six wins, while McCann, New York, won the most among agencies with five awards.

This year’s program featured winners in 15 categories: African American, Asian, Audio, Cross-Cultural Campaigns, Demonstrated Growth, Digital/Social/Mobile, Experiential Marketing, Hispanic, LGBTQ+, Marketing to the 55+ Consumer, People with Disabilities, Print, Rising Multicultural Segments, Small Budget, and Socially Responsible advertising.