WASHINGTON – A campaign to create awareness of Sikhism and its followers inthe United States and fight prejudice has won a top award for excellence inpublic relations programming to promote public causes.
The “We Are Sikhs” campaign received the top 2018 PRWeek US award in thecategory of Public Cause.
The campaign launched last year on Baisakhi by the National Sikh Campaign(NSC) and executed by FP1 Strategies, won the award for effectivelyprojecting the Sikhs as neighbours and everyday Americans who facediscrimination due to ignorance of their faith.
*“Oscars of the Public Relations Industry”*
The PRWeek US awards are nicknamed the “Oscars of the Public RelationsIndustry.”
“It is indeed a great victory for the Sikh community across the US,” NSCcofounder Rajwant Singh said.
“Countless Sikhs have had to face bullying, discrimination, and hate crimesdue to the lack of understanding of our faith and our values. Our communitydecided that we needed to communicate effectively with our fellowAmericans,” he said.
The judges commented that the “provocative campaign that really brokethrough” and “put a face on one distinct minority group” and noted “thereal humanity in the execution,” *PRWeek* magazine said.
The $1.3 million for the campaign was raised mostly by Sikhs, with someHindus also making notable contributions.
The campaign told the stories of Sikhs through online and TV advertisingand amplifying them via emails to journalists and community eventsnationwide.
*Professing patriotism*
The TV ads showed Sikhs as American neighbours going about their dailylives, professing patriotism and national values, but also a sharing a lovefor the TV series “Game of Thrones” and the children’s show “Sponge BobSquare Pants” — to counteract the mistaken negative perceptions because oftheir turbans and beards.
“The campaign drove online conversation that reached more than 5.5 millionvoters and gained the attention of many of Washington’s most influentialorganisations.
“A post-campaign poll proved the group moved the needle, with significantincreases in the percentage of people who knew more about Sikhs and saidthe group had ‘generally American values,’ believed in ‘equality andrespect for all’ and were ‘patriotic’,” *PRWeek* said.