By John Hayden
Representation matters. Inclusion matters. You matter. That’s the message of Visit Lauderdale’s new marketing campaign, Everyone Under the Sun. In the works for more than a year, Stacy Ritter, Visit Lauderdale’s President and CEO, unveiled the initiative in spectacular fashion with a multimedia presentation that included a dozen mega-screens, five teleprompters, and indoor fireworks to cap it all off. While the show was good, the message is important and impactful.
“We speak to everybody. That’s why Everyone Under the Sun is absolutely intentional so people know, we hope, that we’re not just checking a box,” Ritter told OutClique. “It’s not at all checking a box because it truly does reflect what you will see when you walk down to the beach. What you will see when you’re in Wilton Manors.”
In the world of marketing, the campaign is unique and boundary-pushing. Print and TV ads overtly reach out to often overlooked groups, including the disabled, seniors, families, and LGBTQIA+. An ad featuring a man and woman walking arm in arm on to a rooftop bar has a twist, the couple arrive at a table and sit with their same-sex partners. There’s even a kiss. The twist is all part of the plan. “We wanted people to be intrigued. We wanted people to be surprised,” Ritter said. “You aren’t relegated to specific places because you’re gay. You’re mainstream. That was a mainstream bar and nobody cared. They’re two couples having a good time.”
After the presentation, Ritter sat down for a relaxed chat. She describes the Everyone Under the Sun campaign as her “legacy,” a labor of love dedicated to the place she’s proud to call home. She’s had a front row to Greater Fort Lauderdale’s growth and wanted to shout it to the world. “I wanted to evolve us from a vanilla, kind of boring, spring-breaky kind of place where people see what makes the beach so special is the people who live here.”
LGBTQIA+ Front & Center
In addition to the ad featuring gay and lesbian couples, featuring a real life gay couple, a trans actor is featured and one of the highlight photos features shows all the actors staring at the beach. In the middle is actor Thurman Brown, a Fort Lauderdale native dressed in white shorts with rainbow colors across the back. “That was me right in the middle of the campaign for the last shot,” he said. “I was very grateful and shocked by that. I didn’t know they were gonna use that last image to close out the campaign. It’s truly an honor to represent my hometown in this commercial because I am all for inclusivity. I feel like this commercial exemplifies that.”
It’s that attitude that Ritter hopes will jump off the screen. “We don’t care how you identify. What gender, what pronoun you use, if you use a pronoun at all. We don’t care if you’re gay or straight. We just want you to enjoy yourself.”
Using actors from South Florida adds an extra layer of authenticity to the campaign. “We firmly believe that what makes us special are the people who live here. People want to see themselves reflected. We’ve all evolved as we grow up and grow older to realize that there’s so much inequity. Most people wouldn’t think the travel industry should be the ones to balance the scales. Well, why not?”
Ritter hopes this campaign will inspire other cities to follow suit and celebrate all their citizens unconditionally. “This is what America is supposed to be, a melting pot of people who just live together and accept who they are regardless.”
