Regardless of the outcomes of the Supreme Court votes, the Human Rights Campaign won. It was able to move and align with so many people so quickly, with such simplicity, that it seemed effortless. On Facebook, they just posted a photo of a symbol of equal rights, the emblem of the Human Rights Campaign, asked people to share their agreement with the message, and represent themselves with that symbol. And they did, and everyone saw it, often before they knew what it was about. And Human Rights were often mentioned and examined as part of the explanation…
Jim: “What’s the whole red equals about?”
Mary: “Oh, the HRC asked people to show support for Marriage Equality while the Supreme Court considers the issue.”
Jim: “Oh, I can get behind that.”
Mary: “Yeah!”
You may have noticed the ocean of red equals signs on Facebook on Tuesday. All of the red equals signs were preceded by blue equals signs, and each happened because people decided to replace their profile pictures with a message of human equality. The original blue one is the classic equal rights emblem. The red version is a subtle reminder about the issue focusing on love, the change being brought to light by Facebook icons like George Takei.
If you ever have a hundred thousand people put up your logo, you are doing it right. That is successful brand.
I myself was moved to create my own version of the design, as I thought the ones that most used, with all due respect, were of too low a resolution. I also wanted to add some depth, shadow and glow to the images. I offered them freely and asked that people re-use them, which some people did, and I thanked them for both their re-use and the support of equality.
Then, I noticed that people were doing new iterations, such as simply adding translucent equals to their existing profile photos. The iterations and development of the emblem is likely not done, and it will be interesting to see the marriage equality meme evolve. In this respect, it’s also interesting from a symbolic evolution standpoint. It all happened so quick. And all because of a suggestion by a campaign. That is power, it’s leadership, and it’s an exemplar of how social media can help make us better.
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