ADC Awards
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Category
Inclusive
Annual ID
ADC102_PRD019M
About the Work
We set out to draw attention to a prevalent microaggression within the world’s most popular workplace word processor, where the programming recognizes many Asian names as it would a mistake – with a jarring red underline. While this might seem subtle, our research speaking to many Asian Canadians proved it minimizes their existence every time they use the software, and says to them something they hear too often: you don’t belong here.
To highlight this issue, we used a little-known function of Microsoft Word: custom dictionaries. It’s a tool that allows anyone to create and add a list of terms that are outside of the programme’s native lexicon. Because they normalize non-standard terminology, custom dictionaries are widely used by the medical community, but no one has attempted to create one in the name of societal change – until now.
ReclaimYourName.dic is the first custom dictionary of Asian names, consisting of 8,000+ unique identities, each sourced by manually parsing data from online name registries, national and regional census data, and Canadian cultural associations. At a time when Asianness was under attack (anti-Asian hate crimes rose 700% over the pandemic in Vancouver alone), all it took was a few clicks to make software more inclusive.
We developed a campaign to create awareness around the plug-in, garnering over 90 million impressions from media around the world. It got the public to confront software bias, and drove thousands of users online to download. By pitching media and influencers to show their support for it (paired w/ donated paid media support), we were able to not just create awareness with Canadians, but get the attention of Microsoft itself, who reached out to discuss planning to add our plug-in to their default dictionary in their next global update - impacting billions of users in workplaces (both remote and in
2023 Awards
Total Points: 3
Merit Honor
Credits
PR / Marketing Agency
Citizen Relations / Toronto
Music / Sound Production Company
Boombox / Toronto
Art Director
Mike Lo Nam
Copywriter
Abeer Verma
Chief Creative Officer
Josh Budd
Creative Director
Abeer Verma
Mike Lo Nam
Editor
Andy Ferreira
Account Director
Kristen Schaffrath
Account Executive
Chantal Grainger
Katie Haller
Director / Photographer
Nick Wong
Director, Strategic Communications
Rebecca Myer
Managing Partner
Brooke Leland
Media Buying Assistant
Evann Kremer
Production Designer
Antony Micheal Melven
Sr. Account Director
Jonathan Kim
Sr. Account Executive
Christina Demare
Daniel Ma
SVP, Strategy
Lindsay Page
Vice President
Cher Lee
Web Developer
Oliver Morrissey
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