Life

This Kiss Cam Video Shows That Love Has No Labels

by Lily Feinn

The Super Bowl may be over, but the Nation Football League is still making unexpected headlines this week with the release of a powerful new Kiss Cam PSA celebrating the power of love. Released on Valentine's Day, the short video, which was made in partnership with creative agency R/GA and The Ad Council (a non-profit specializing in PSAs), sends an important message of diversity, inclusion, and understanding. The public service announcement titled "Fans of Love" is the latest installment of theAd Council " Love Has No Labels" campaign — and believe me, you will want to watch this touching video over and over, just like the 2.75 million people who have viewed it so far already have.

Filmed at the Orlando Pro Bowl in January, the uplifting clip shows people of all ages, genders, races engaging in a little healthy PDA while encircled by a heart-shaped outline. “We noticed that [the iconic kiss cam] was often focused on traditional notions of love," Chris Northam, an executive creative director at R/GA, told the Washington Post. "We thought, what if we could showcase a more modern take?”

In the beginning of the ad, the roving heart of the kiss cam scans the crowd repeatedly until it final settles on a man and a woman. After a brief moment of awkwardness between the two, expectations are flipped when the man leans the opposite way and happily kisses his partner. Thousands in the stadium applaud their act of love.

"This year, Love Has No Labels puts a twist on the kiss cam by turning it into a symbol for unbiased love," reads the video's YouTube description. "In the stadium, fans cheered for love in all its forms — regardless of race, gender, disability, age, or religion." The beautifully done video proceeds to highlight real couples and families, including an older couple, an interracial couple, multicultural groups, and a survivor of the Pulse nightclub shooting.

Hopefully, this video will help to give the kiss cam, which has been a part of American sports culture since the early '80s, a new inclusive meaning.

The "Love Has No Labels" campaign was started in 2015 with the goal to fight discrimination by shining a light on subconscious or implicit bias. An extension of the campaign called "We Are America" is breaking down boundaries by exposure, seeking to "food culture with images of counter bias love to communicate an important and inspiring message – to love America is to love all Americans."

Although Eric Jannon, an executive creative director for R/GA, told the Wall Street Journal, "The message [of 'Fans of Love'] is not political, it's apolitical," in this time of political discord and divisiveness, it is especially evocative to show people coming together. Said Ad Council CEO and President Lisa Sherman according to the Wall Street Journal, "I do believe that releasing this piece of film at this moment in time will be incredibly powerful."

Besides making the rounds online and social platforms, you will also be able to catch the clip on TV. Be sure to look out for more inspiring spots from "Love Has No Labels" soon to come.