Pony Malta’s #RideThePride Campaign Tackles LGBTQ+ Bullying In Colombian Skateboard Community

For International Pride Day, Pony Malta (a non-alcoholic malted energy drink) created a hybrid movement/marketing campaign which aimed to help LGBTQ+ skaters Colombian skaters overcome fears about being bullied by doing something they love through a project called #RideThePride.

Bullying is a problem that affects many LGBTQ+ teens and young adults in Colombia (as elsewhere in the world), so for the 27 June Pride Day ABInBev’s Pony Malta, one of the leading beverages among Colombian teens, launched a campaign to highlight and combat the bullying which takes place throughout in and around skateboarding.

The drink’s brand, originally launched in 1953 by Cervecería Bavaria and which is now owned by global drinks giant AB InBev, found that skateboarding is one of the sports in which participants are bullied the most due to their sexual orientation, identity or gender expression. So it teamed up with agency MullenLowe SSP3 to create #RideThePride.

At the heart of the initiative is a specially designed a range of skateboards that showcase some of the feelings associated with bullying: fear, failure silence, loneliness, rejection, pain, and gifted them to LGBTQ+ skaters who have experienced bullying within the sport.

Then, somewhat surprisingly, the objective of the campaign is for the skaters to destroy the boards during a Pride Day skate session to promote the message that: ‘Skateboarding is the best way to defeat skateboarding prejudices’.

The gifting, skating, board break up and the individual stories of the athletes involved were documented and promoting through a hero video deployed across the brand’s digital and social channels.

The brand has also partnered with Colombia Diversa, It Gets Better Colombia, LGBTQ Working Table and the sports movement Sobre Ruedas Girls, to create a helpline to assist those who have been victims of bullying.

“In Colombia, gender identity or expression is the second-most frequent cause for a boy, girl, or teenager to be a victim of bullying; a disturbing figure amidst the fight for diversity,” explained Juan Alonso Torres, marketing director for non-alcoholic beverages, AB InBev Colombia. “At Pony Malta, we want to support the members of the LGBTQ+ community and ensure they feel represented. We aim to bring out the best of our youngsters, and this campaign invites them to feel free to express who they really are and to channel all their energy through a sport with so much strength and projection as skateboarding.”

MullenLowe SSP3 executive creative directors, Juan Pardo and Diego Muñoz added: “Teenagers are already going through a period of huge change, and to be bullied because of their gender or sexual orientation makes everything harder. That is why actions like this are so important, for people to stand beside teenagers in Colombia and let them know they’re not alone, because no one should ever be a victim of bullying. We’re proud to stand alongside Pony Malta as they endorse this cause, to support young people and help them feel proud of who they are and encourage them to seek their own happiness.”

Comment:

This Pony Malta cause campaign followed on from its gender equality December 2020 ‘She FC’ initiative which saw the brand champion and petition for the first female club in FIFA Clubes Pro so women gamers can play with avatars that reflect and define them (www.change.org/shefutbolclub).