MGM Resorts: Universal Love
After boldly declaring to the world that MGM Resorts was an entertainment company, we set out to prove their commitment to providing entertainment for ALL with a grand gesture. Universal Love was produced as a way to provide same-sex couples a soundtrack for their own love stories and to amplify conversations around inclusivity in music.
"It's a case study in how to get brand activism right" (Pitchfork)
Winning 5 Cannes Lions and earning 2.5 billion media impressions, with the album ranked in 9th place in the Pop category on iTunes (briefly surpassing Beyonce). It also increased positive perception of MGM Resorts among the LGBTQ community by 40%.
On the anniversary of the 1st same-sex marriage license, we dropped the album with six artists—Bob Dylan, St Vincent, Kele Okereke, Valerie June, Benjamin Gibbard and Kesha changing the pronouns of iconic love songs to reflect LGBTQ relationships.
The album was available on all major music platforms and each artist amplified the launch on their social channels (except for Bob who doesn’t do social media and reportedly has no cell phone).
The next week, Kesha dropped a music video for her song in an exclusive on The Today Show and Ben Gibbard performed live on Late Night with Conan O’Brien to announce the album’s launch on vinyl.
Finally, inspired by the project, Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward's indie folk duo, She & Him, released two gender-flipped versions of a new song, “She Gives Her Love to Me” and “He Gives His Love to Me”.
The year following the album’s launch, we hosted a special celebration on the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising.
In recognition of the shifting culture in 2019 toward a rise in gender neutrality and non-binary pronouns, Universal Love Karaoke night at Stonewall Inn featured a song list, where singers could chose from versions using a male, female or nongendered pronoun.
Love is universal. Now karaoke songs are too.
