#http://series.hashtagsunplugged.com/lovewins https://www.worldreligionnews.com/issues/lovewins-pew-update-on-how-the-supreme-courts-decision

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The Story of the #lovewins Campaign- By Natalie White

In the afternoon of June 26th 2015, there were 2.6 million tweets, posted that day with the hashtag #LoveWins. At the peak of the day, there were an average of 35,000 tweets sent out with the hashtag every minute. It was earlier that morning that the US Supreme Court decided in a 5-4 ruling for the legalization of same sex marriage, and people took to twitter and social media to show their support.

Who were the creators of the hashtag?

The Human Rights Campaign created the slogan before the Supreme Court ruling, and had selected #LoveWins as the hashtag and message they would promote if the court were to rule in favor of LGBTQ+ marriages. 

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1980 as a political action committee for gay and lesbian political candidates. They originally set out to provide financial support for these candidates that fought for gay civil rights legislation. Over time the group expanded beyond political lobbying, creating campaigns and projects that made change across the globe. Examples of these include the #LoveConquersHate project in 2014 during the Sochi olympics to support Russian LGBTQ+ athletes, the #AskTheGays project in 2016 in response to the Orlando club shooting (the hashtag was inspired by one Trump’s thoughtless comments), and their “Project One America” campaign where they traveled across the country in 2015 to educate groups about equality and civil rights.

Throughout the Supreme Court case, the HRC sought to create a campaign that would inspire people to create and share original content that supported love around the world. Their goal was to spark conversation both online and offline, to make LGBTQ+ individuals feel supported by their community, and to foster positive connections between love, acceptance, equality, and the case ruling within the greater society.

What made it go “viral”?

After the decision, HRC posted content across multiple platforms to get the message started. Their instagram page featured over 30 photos, and included live content from outside of the White House and the Supreme Court.

They put up 40 posts on Facebook and published 40 Tweets, all including the hashtag #LoveWins. The content they shared was “innovative and interactive, highlighting not only the win for LGBTQ+ people, but celebrating love for everyone, everywhere”.

The #LoveWins message skyrocketed across social media, receiving overwhelming support from celebrities, political figures, athletes, influencers, and ordinary individuals. It was spoken about on news outlets, and was the top trending hashtag across Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Obama tweeted early in the morning using the hashtag, and his post was retweeted 390,376 times.

Celebrities shortly followed his lead, with Justin Timberlake, Kim Kardashian, Jessica Alba, Katy Perry and countless others posting tweets with the hashtag, and of course queer icons like Ellen and Miley Cyrus cheering on the decision because of course, #lovewins.

An important aspect of what helped make the hashtag become widespread, was the fact that it called on individuals to share and create their own content with the message. Whether it was a personal celebration, or a social obligation, it provided a way to show your friends that you are open and supportive of the LGBTQ+ community.

What about brands?

Brands recognized what was going on on social media, and not only tweeted about marriage equality, but some even made custom products to celebrate. The most notable companies are Smirnoff, and Ben and Jerry’s. Smirnoff rolled out to stores a line of vodka bottles that were colored chromatic rainbow, and boasted an image of a newly wed couple on the front. For each bottle that was manufactured and sold, Smirnoff donated one dollar to LGBTQ+ causes. These bottles saw tremendous success in sales, earned recognition in top magazines, and Smirnoff even won an award for its role as a consumer brand in social justice.

Ben and Jerry’s has been supporting the LGBTQ+ community for a long time, starting in 1989 when they were the first major employer in Vermont to offer health insurance benefits to same sex partners of Ben and Jerry’s employees. They have supported in countless ways since then, so it is no surprise that they were ready to celebrate when the ruling was decided in 2015. In honor of the new marriages, they supportively and pridefully renamed their key flavor- Cookie dough- to “I Dough, I Dough”.

A few important takeaways

The far reach of the #lovewins campaign has been incredibly influential in building a sense of support to those that have historically faced hate, disgust, and discrimination. It sparked conversations and publicly praised openness and acceptance. While it created positive change in many minds, when discussing and responding to “viral” campaigns such as this, we must remember to be sensitive. It is interesting to analyze how the hashtag grew to be shared so many times, but we should be careful in calling it viral, as it could trivialize the historic struggles of the LGBTQ+ community. A parallel can be drawn to the black lives matter movement. When we discuss either struggle, even as it exists on a social platform basis, it is important to talk about it from a mindset that recognizes that what may be a single hashtag or post for one, is a daily battle for another. Brands in particular must be cautious when endorsing or posting about social struggles, because there is a fine line between a company being socially “woke”, and trying to profit off of the latest “viral” post- even if it relates to discrimination. The brands mentioned, such as Smirnoff and Ben and Jerry’s, understood that concept and took strides in their product to show they fully supported the cause. Both individuals and brands that engaged in the #lovewins campaign did a terrific job of fostering openness and acceptance in society.