The #signsoflove video from Chatham-Kent Councillor Brock McGregor, Whitney McGregor and the Hub Creative’s digital content manager John Lyons is out.
They describe the project as a social media campaign to promote positivity, inclusiveness, and acceptance. The video encourages viewers to post their #signsoflove on social media platforms.
The decision to start the project came after a billboard was erected at Kent Bridge Rd. and Countryview Line with a number of messages on it, including one that read “God says no to homosexuality and abortion.”
“We wanted to just show Chatham-Kent, and now the world, that this is an inviting and welcoming and awesome community for everyone,” says Lyons.
What started as a late-night Saturday idea between Brock and Whitney McGregor turned into a project involving more than 50 people. Lyons says he spent two days recording short videos of various community members in the Hub Creative studio.
“There’s a lot of energy out there and I think there was an opportunity to harness that energy to do something positive,” says McGregor.
Lyons wrote the script in the middle of the night, just hours before video recording began. The trio reached out to anyone they could think of who might want to participate.
“It was really cool to see how many people, without even giving a full explanation, said ‘Yep, I’ll be there Monday morning,’” says McGregor.
Even though the billboard was taken down after generating a great deal of social media backlash , McGregor says their message will still have weight in the community.
“We’re still seeing a lot of talk on social media of what that billboard meant,” says McGregor. “People are talking about their opinions and what messaging we want to see in the community.”
Lyons agrees.
“The only sign we want people in Chatham-Kent to care about is signs of love,” says Lyons. “If we can overwhelm and flood social media with signs of love, then nobody is going to care about any sign out here.”
The video has been released on the Hub Creative's Facebook page and can be viewed below: