Activist Group's Promotional Hand Sanitizer: 'Stop the Spread' of Racism

By Brendan Menapace

The Chinese Canadian Council for Social Justice debuted a promotional campaign to combat the racial discrimination against Asian people during the height of coronavirus panic. The campaign involved a commercial, showing people in hazmat suit walking the streets of Toronto handing out miniature bottles of promotional hand sanitizer that say "Stop the Spread."

The spread, of course, being the virus as well as the spread of misinformation and xenophobic opinions about the origins of the virus.

The Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice, in partnership with Toronto creative agency The Hive, has a new hand sanitizer that can, as the title of its latest campaign suggests, “Stop The Spread”—of racism, that is. https://t.co/3tE4aRHoX9 pic.twitter.com/6N8QV3RwOK

— ADWEEK (@Adweek) March 12, 2020

In a two-minute video posted to Adweek, officials such as Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebroyesus, director general of the World Health Organization, described some of the harmful stigma attached to the virus.

"The stigma is more dangerous than the virus itself," Ghebroyesus said in the video.

"COVID-19 has led many people who have always held discriminatory attitudes and racist attitudes toward Chinese to act out those attitudes in a public, in an emboldened way," said Amy Go, interim national president of the Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice, in the video.

The hazmat suits and masks worn by the people in the video also say "Stop the Spread," and the bottles claim to "protect against toxic behavior."

“The ‘Stop the Spread’ idea was born out of a simple thought—that much sought-after hand sanitizer could be used as a tool to send an important message, and ultimately propel change,” Meghan Kraemer, creative director of the advertising agency The Hive, told Adweek. “The suits were attention-grabbing, and the response was over-resoundingly positive. Our hope is that this initiative will help sanitize the stigma—and foster kindness, acceptance and a desire for Canadians to be guided by facts, not fear.”

The promotion is multi-faceted. At a time where demand for hand sanitizer has reached unprecedented levels, this also reminds people not to lose their heads and succumb to harmful notions that only spread misinformation and pain.