It Gets Better Project: Dan & Terry
The It Gets Better Project sought to combat high rates of bullying and despair among LGBTQ+ middle and high schoolers. They aimed to provide tangible hope and reassurance that life improves, encouraging youth to persevere through current struggles.
Creative Idea
Real-life stories offered hope to struggling LGBTQ+ youth.
The 'It Gets Better Project: Dan & Terry' campaign powerfully leveraged authentic personal testimonials to demonstrate that life truly improves after high school, offering a tangible vision of happiness, love, and family to LGBTQ+ youth struggling with bullying and despair.
The Viral Movement That Humanized Google Chrome
Bypassing YouTube Upload Limits
When the project first went viral, it grew so rapidly that it hit YouTube’s standard upload limits. In a move that highlighted the campaign's urgency, YouTube engineer Min-Yen Chen backdated the account to 2004 to bypass technical restrictions, later describing the intervention as a matter of life and death. The production also featured a rare collaboration with Pixar; director Lee Unkrich and Tom Hanks produced custom animation of Woody from Toy Story specifically for the spot rather than using recycled footage.
Mainstream Media as a Lifeline
The campaign was strategically launched on May 3, 2011, with ad placements during Glee and One Tree Hill to reach at-risk LGBTQ+ youth directly. This was a landmark moment in advertising history, representing one of the first times a global corporation like Google used a national TV buy to take a definitive stance on LGBTQ+ rights. The effort helped the project scale from 1,000 videos to over 10,000 user-created testimonials, eventually surpassing 50 million combined views.
Living Well is the Best Revenge
The creative partnership between BBH New York and Google Creative Lab aimed to shift Google’s image from a cold utility to a human connector. The spot featured a montage of high-profile contributors, including Barack Obama, Lady Gaga, and Adam Lambert. Lady Gaga was reportedly so moved by the original Dan Savage and Terry Miller footage that she agreed to participate in the series for free. Beyond the social impact, the campaign coincided with a massive surge in market share, leading Chrome to overtake Internet Explorer as the world's most-used browser by May 2012.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
The It Gets Better Project credibly delivered authentic, lived experiences and powerful messages of hope and resilience from real LGBTQ+ individuals.
Category
The category often relied on general awareness messages, but this campaign broke norms by offering deeply personal, unvarnished stories of overcoming adversity.
Customer
LGBTQ+ youth felt isolated, bullied, and hopeless, desperately wanting proof that their lives could genuinely improve and find acceptance.
Culture
A growing cultural conversation around LGBTQ+ youth mental health and the need for positive role models made these stories incredibly resonant.
Company
The It Gets Better Project credibly delivered authentic, lived experiences and powerful messages of hope and resilience from real LGBTQ+ individuals.
Category
The category often relied on general awareness messages, but this campaign broke norms by offering deeply personal, unvarnished stories of overcoming adversity.
Strategy:
Provide authentic proof of a hopeful future to those facing present despair and isolation.
Customer
LGBTQ+ youth felt isolated, bullied, and hopeless, desperately wanting proof that their lives could genuinely improve and find acceptance.
Culture
A growing cultural conversation around LGBTQ+ youth mental health and the need for positive role models made these stories incredibly resonant.
Strategy:
Provide authentic proof of a hopeful future to those facing present despair and isolation.
Strategy Technique
Empathize
The campaign deeply empathizes with the struggles of bullied LGBTQ+ youth by sharing relatable experiences of past pain. It then offers a powerful, hopeful vision of a better future.
Creative Technique
Testimonial
The campaign features Dan and Terry sharing their raw, emotional journey from high school bullying to a fulfilling adult life. This personal narrative provides relatable proof and builds trust with the target audience.
Explore Technique
Craft Breakdown
The campaign's strength lies in its raw, authentic storytelling, primarily driven by powerful Copywriting and heartfelt Acting. The personal narratives resonate deeply, creating an impactful and empathetic connection with the audience.
The honest, unfiltered dialogue and personal anecdotes are incredibly powerful, moving, and relatable, forming the core emotional impact of the campaign.
Dan and Terry's genuine emotions, vulnerability, and warmth are convincingly conveyed, making their stories deeply authentic and engaging.
The simple yet effective camera work, focusing on intimate close-ups and medium shots, enhances the personal and confessional tone of the interviews.
The unpretentious setting and integration of personal photos ground the narrative in realism, supporting the authenticity and sincerity of their experiences.
The emotional depth of the campaign comes from the synergy between the raw, impactful storytelling (Copywriting) and the authentic, heartfelt delivery by Dan and Terry (Acting), creating a genuinely moving and credible message.
