Old Navy celebrates inclusivity with holiday campaign

Image: Old Navy Retail brand Old Navy is celebrating inclusivity with its Happy All-idays campaign. The campaign seeks to encourage all Santas to participate, arranging an inclusive training course for all those who are “interested in spreading the holiday joy”. Open to anyone of any background, ethnicity and cultural heritage, Old Navy wishes to offer more representation in the role of Santa. With less than five percent of all professional Santas in the US identifying as people of color, Old Navy began its inclusive Santa campaign last year, introducing its skin-tone Santa prints that depicted Santa in three different skin tones. Through its Santa Bootcamp, Old Navy offers a training course, which includes a 30 minute virtual course where trainees learn about the fundamentals of becoming Santa. The brand partnered with a veteran Santa, Timothy Connaghan, founder of School4Santa, and owner of a Santa booking agency. The brand will also cast diverse Santas to appear in its flagship stores in New York City, San Francisco and Chicago. Old Navy will donate one million dollars through the Imagine Mission Fund to the brand’s This Way Onward program, which provides young people with career development and mentorship opportunities. It also assists young people with transportation, housing and a clothing allowance. Already, Old Navy has provided jobs and mentoring to over 10,000 diverse youth. Other aspects of Old Navy’s All-idays campaign includes two television spots and a series of digital extensions starring actress and singer Keke Palmer. Palmer is featured alongside a diverse cast of families going about their holiday traditions. The brand will also offer a platform for a diverse group of influencers to share their own holiday traditions, showcasing one influencer per week beginning November 16. “Inclusivity is core to our Old Navy values and is represented in the products we create, how they come to life, the people we work with and how we run our business. We can’t wait to see and share our customers’ All-iday celebrations,” said SVP and CMO at Old Navy, Jamie Gersch. Also available now is the brand’s Santa print pajamas in collaboration with Gap’s Color Proud Council, a part of the company’s Equality and Belonging team. The pajamas are available in three different skin tones, and will include other inclusive styles such as menorah prints and rainbow styles.
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