Can You Be an Activist *and* in a Super Bowl Spot?
How “Free Hugs” activist Ken Nwadike Jr. learned how to stop others from fighting and start collaborating with brands to accelerate a movement.
Kindred is honored to have activist and content creator Ken E. Nwadike Jr., as a participant at Kindred 2020 (May 11–14, San Diego Convention Center).
One of the reasons activists do what they do is to draw attention. Ken E. Nwadike Jr., the founder of the Free Hugs Project, has gone viral for his de-escalation work at protests, political rallies, and public events across the country. But there are few opportunities for exposure as impactful as 60 seconds during the Super Bowl broadcast. Fresh off a featured appearance in Budweiser’s Super Bowl commercial, Ken sat down with Kindred’s Co-Founder and CEO Ian Schafer to discuss how brands and activists can work together to drive social change.
Emphasizing that common ground is more likely to spur dialogue, progress and brand support, he acknowledges some of the differences and nuances of “modern activism” in an era dominated by social media.
As an activist who’s currently doing the work, why did you choose this ad campaign to join? What was the alignment with this particular brand that made it feel authentic to you?
I don’t even drink beer, so you can imagine when I found out the brand was Budweiser initially I was a little taken aback. As an activist, I’m always concerned about authenticity because people will quickly call you out if your brand starts to lose its authenticity, they’ll pretty much consider you to be a sellout. So it was very important to me that the message would be in alignment with what I do. They promised to send a team to my house to show me the commercial before it airs. That eased some of my concerns about the integrity and authenticity of the brand getting my message right.
Do you actively seek out these brand partnerships or are these partnerships that come to you?
I wouldn’t even know how to start reaching brands. Back in 2016 when Google included me in their 2016 “Year in Search” commercial, it was because that’s what people were searching for that year. When my content goes viral it makes it easy for brands to find my work.
[In the Budweiser Superbowl commercial] the line when it shows me, “just look at them thinking they can save the world” though there was a kind of humor in his description of each moment, it let me know that Budweiser understood that ultimately the goal of my work is to unite people. It’s to bring people together with love. It’s to save lives. To create friendships. It is imperative that activists make sure that their message is very easy to understand even without them stating it.
Your particular form of activism is designed to bring people together rather than draw attention to a different point of view. Does that make your relationship with Budweiser unique to you? Or is this something that you hope to inspire other activists to be able to do?
Civil discourse is one of the primary messages that I push when I’m out on the front lines or even speaking at events. But, there are even going to be people that oppose my message of peace. We have to be cautious with our approach, whether it’s with advertising or activism, to make sure that there is some meeting of the minds in the middle.
And if the end goal is justice, or peace, or unity, we’re all going to have different ways of accomplishing that goal. I try to encourage and inspire activists to try different routes of getting there. And I’m always considering some of the options that are presented to me. Especially as a one-man show, a family man traveling every week for my message of conflict resolution, getting the support of larger brands… that’s a blessing to me. I think it just has to fit whatever a group or an activist’s overall goal is for their work.
Do you think that given the success of your partnership with Budweiser, more brands will seek to work with activists?
Absolutely. Look at the social and political space that we’re in right now. Brands can’t just say, “give us your money” anymore. They have to get involved with the issues because people’s lives are affected. A lot of brands are nervous about taking a very strong stance. However, we saw that with the Nike Colin Kaepernick campaign. Nike knows who their target audience is and they know who’s buying their products so that was a worthwhile risk for them. But unfortunately, a lot of brands aren’t in a similar space. They don’t want to upset people.
I think more brands would be interested in working with activists with a positive message they can get behind. For example, everyone should be able to agree that we need to take better care of our environment.
Super Bowl ads aside, you’ve taken great care to produce content. Is it important for activists to leverage technology and media to get a disproportionate reaction from their actions?
Absolutely. If you calculate between Facebook video views, YouTube, Instagram, the following is well over 115 million views. There are times when I’m recognized and I’m not even wearing the free hugs t-shirt. People are like, “hey man, I love your work and the message that you put out.” I travel with a Panasonic GH5 camera and I can reverse the screen to face me to film more blog style. Or face it in the opposite direction to shoot content. I taught myself video editing because I already have in my mind what the story is from that moment that I’ve captured.
Properly using social media has really opened up opportunities for me that otherwise would not have been there. And it’s funny because, on one hand, you might have people that will say, “well, isn’t that self-promotion?” Well is it though? Or is it a way of expanding your brand and getting your message to reach the masses? I think now more people understand that it’s probably the most effective way for me to get my message out.
As brands realize the potential of community-building social activists and how closely they align with many of their values, they’re getting more comfortable with not having to please everyone. This effort by Budweiser and those made infamous by others demonstrate the thin line between co-opting movements and supporting causes. As a member of the creator community at Kindred, Ken will be on-site at Kindred 2020 working to help his fellow creators, activists, and companies walk that line with meaningful messages, but equally as importantly, continue the good fight for systemic change, a more inclusive culture, and mutually beneficial business and brand partnerships. We can get places faster when we head there together.
Join us by registering for Kindred 2020 here.
[Disclaimer: This interview was edited for clarity]
