This Campaign Spotlights Risks of Book Bans and Censorship Across America

All students deserve to have an education that represents America's true history. So, the people at Wieden+Kennedy New York are aiming to spark a movement to spotlight the risks of these bans and censorship. They partnered with friends at Courageous Conversation Global Foundation to create America Erased, aimed at showing the dangerous repercussions of erasing stories that represent American values and defending students’ freedom 

Book bans and censorship in the United States have been a constant occurrence for decades. In more recent years, numbers have drastically skyrocketed and the dangerous rhetoric to rip stories away from students that teach themes of race, gender, and identity are at an all time high. The film, America Erased, uses various visceral methods of erasure to dramatise the effect of book bans in the classroom, their impact on students and educators, and the dangerous implications if this censorship continues. It challenges viewers to live up to the values they believe in and understand that by removing these stories and many others, we’re erasing the values that Americans all uphold in high regard. 

The film follows the removal of important American historical figures of colour, mimicking the removal of texts about them in schools. Taking place inside the classroom, students ready to watch a lesson about Martin Luther King Jr. suddenly see him being erased from the screen while giving his I Have a Dream speech. The erasure continues as we see Ruby Bridges, Mildred and Richard Loving, and Amanda Gorman being removed until we see a pile of books being banned. By the end of the film, the American flag is stripped of its colour until we see it purely white. 

Wieden+Kennedy's blueprint for success has always been pretty simple: Build a creative culture that allows people to apply their stories, and their POV, to the work they put out in the world. And with America Erased, they’re doing just that. This isn’t the first time Wieden+Kennedy has championed and invested in ideas from their employees - whether they’re for a client or just to tell stories that matter.