In my speech, I will make my thesis clear, which is that Love does not discriminate regardless of gender, age, race or disability, and these ideas are very present within the video by Ad Council.

This video shows the different types of relationships behind a screen that makes the people’s bodies into skeletons, so the audience is not able to tell who is behind the screen. These relationships were then described with the “Love Has No [Blank]” showing how love does not discriminate. The audience welcomed this campaign with smiles and applause every time someone came out from behind the skeleton screen.

Love Has No Labels was produced shortly after Barack Obama made his State of the Union address where he addressed members of the LGBTQ+ community and told the American people that they should be welcomed as humans with dignity and respect. Some people were extremely happy about the statement that the President made to the country, however some people were not thrilled about the ideas that he presented. Ad Council. the producers and directors of this video, made their stance with the President very clear, which was that they stand for Love and Love Equality.

The organization speaking through this campaign is called Ad Council, which is a call-to-action organization for human justice. They speak for all of those who are not in a “normal”, or hetero normative relationship. They are speaking to all of those in America, at least as an intended audience, but it ended up reaching millions of people around the world.

This campaign was a civic act because it speaks about the idea of equality and being accepting of your fellow Americans and their lifestyles. It is a call to action to be kind and accepting of your neighbor, and spread love instead of hatred. Ad Council wanted their message to be loud and clear about how they felt about the President’s address and their stance about the topic. The commonplace that is present within this campaign is that love does not discriminate and is not hatred, it is one of the best things to exist in the world and should not be scrutinized.

The rhetorical devices present in this campaign are Ethos, Pathos, Repetition and Framing. Ethos is established by Ad Council by having several couples participate in their campaign and are unapologetic about how they express their love to one another. They are an organization that have made several efforts to improve social justice and establish equality among diverse communities. Pathos was established because it draws compassion for these different types of relationships and shows how truly wonderful being inclusive can be. There were kids included in the campaign who talked about their different friendships and relationships with each other which is bound to touch the emotions of the viewers. Repetition is used by continually showing the “Love Has No [Blank]” which is showing the lack of boundaries that love has when it comes to being between two people. This also allows the name of the campaign to be clear to the audience as well as their intended message. Finally, framing was used by having the couples and friends behind the screen at the beginning of the campaign, where only their skeletons could be seen, and did not let the audience see who they were until they came out from behind the screen. This shows the audience that it does not matter who is behind the screen, and what they look like or who they are, they are all the same under the skin, and it does not matter as long as the love is the same.

Ad Council wonderfully used Kairos, or timing, rhetoric, and visuals in order to make their message seen and hear loud and clear to millions of people. In my opinion, Ad Council beautifully and effectively put together all of these elements to create a seamless video of why love has no boundaries, and the people who exhibit unconditional love everyday.

2015 might have been one of the most historic years for Love Equality. President Barack Obama mentioned homosexuality, bisexuality, and transgender people in a State of the Union address for the first time in history in January of 2015. Though it may seem like an obvious topic to bring up, this was an extremely important thing to happen to the LGBTQ+ community, which was to be recognized by the President of the United States.

Obama said in his Address, “As Americans, we respect human dignity… That’s why we defend free speech, and advocate for political prisoners, and condemn the persecution of women, or religious minorities, or people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.  We do these things not only because they are the right thing to do, but because ultimately they will make us safer.” This statement, though small in comparison to the rest of his Address, proved to be incredibly important for those within the minority communities.

The video by Ad Council was created a little less than a month after Obama’s speech on Valentine’s Day, and was shared to the public the next month in March. The response to this video, as I spoke about before, was incredible and was seen by millions of people. Ad Council made themselves clear that they agreed with what the President had said in his Address, and wanted to keep that mindset propelling forward by taking advantage of the timing, or Kairos. Ad Council most definitely remained relevant with their video and proposed that Love is Equal and Love does NOT need Labels.

After this video was shared among millions and millions of people, in June of 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that Same-Sex Marriage would be a nation-wide right, making Americans across the nation exclaim, “Love Wins.”

Love Has No Labels relies on the impact of the visuals within the video, as well as the emotion derived from the happiness on the faces of those involved in the campaign, and the stories associated with the previously talked about, “Love Has No [Blank]”. That statement itself is used heavily in order to impact the audience through the use of the words and the message that is trying to be portrayed, which is that all Love is Equal.

Ad Council used the visuals provided by the “skeleton screen” to truly portray their message, showing that everybody is the same on the inside, so it should not matter who one is friends with, talks to, or kisses. Everybody looks the same on the inside. They expect that the audience sees the message on the side of the screen and understands what is truly means. For examples: Love Has No Gender = It does not matter the gender between two people, as long as there is love. Love Has No Religion = Love is the same, even if two people do not share the same religion. At the end of the video, where those involved in the campaign say what they love about the other person, that is used to show that these relationships are genuine and true, and are not staged.

The faces on those in the audience was enough to move someone watching the video, as the smiles were countless and the amount of love that you can feel even through the video is unmatched. Even the music in the background of the video is Same Love by Macklemore, which was a very ground-breaking song written in support of the LGBTQ+ community by someone who did not identify with the community. That in itself, for those who know the song, shows how truly important this message is for people to hear about not only equality, but about love.

This is an example of a same-sex couple that does not conform to gender norms or heteronormativity featured in the video.

After thinking about what I truly want to speak about in this blog, I kept searching for something I truly felt passion towards. I remember watching a video called Love Has No Labels, created by Ad Council on Valentine’s Day in 2015.The impact made by this video is unmatched, and I knew I wanted to talk about it.

Ad Council created a campaign motivated by inclusion and equality among all people, and found what some people say, is the perfect way to do just that. A community of families, couples, and friends came together to participate in a public action in front of a crowd in order to display their love with the caption always present “Love Has No [blank]”. Depending on who was behind the skeleton screen, it may have said gender, age limit, religion, labels etc.

It is clear that the physical, present audience was not the only intended audience, as the video has reached millions more through the internet. Everyone in the audience was thrilled at this idea, and seemed to have watched until the very end because of how powerful the message was. This action is seen as civic because it is providing a clear idea of what is true about being equal and free, which are core American values throughout the nation.

The context in which Ad Council made this campaign was a time where gay marriage was being questioned by those in positions of authority, so Ad Council made their position clear in front of over 59 Million people on YouTube. This clear usage of freedom of speech made their message loud and clear to everyone viewing, which is a true exercise of civic duty. It seemed that the company as well as those involved in the campaign shared the same idea: love is love.

This is the link to the video. 

This is an ad campaign for Axe Anarchy body spray that shows the difference between men and women and their desires for body spray. I would speak about the factors presented in this ad and how they appeal to each gender, as well as the campaign that went along with the ad.

In this BMW ad, which speaks to not drinking and driving as a way to promote their brand. I would speak to the rhetoric used within this ad and how it would appeal to the audience it was presented to. I would dive deeper into the content that made BMW make this ad.