It may be an advertisement for a budget car insurance company, but a new short film that gives children a chance to describe the wedding of their dreams packs both a message of equality and a tug to the heartstrings.
The video, titled #EqualDreams, was recorded at a wedding in Chicago on June 13, according to a press release from Esurance. The children and gay teens in attendance were asked what their future wedding day would be like. Their answers, told in their words, deliver an emotional wallop as well as a gentle nudge to the funny bone.
One boy wants a volcano spewing lava, while a girl suggests her husband can have his own cake if he doesn't like hers.
Ruby, a little pixie of a girl attending the wedding, wants all her doggies and all her guests' doggies to attend. She adds, "Everybody's dreams should be allowed to come true because everyone should be happy."
"Sometimes children can make complex issues so simple. They remind us what it's like to have dreams," said Brian Shembeda, executive vice president and creative director of ad agency Leo Burnett Chicago, which created the video. "Their words, as heard in the video, help us understand why equality is important. Because all children deserve the same right to pursue their dreams."
"We created this online film to show, in an emotionally compelling way, our belief that all dreams should be equal," said Esurance chief marketing officer Alan Gellman. "But it's not just a belief. As a modern company, we act on that belief through our products and insurance offerings."
The commercial part of the commercial is told in words on the screen: In every state where Esurance can give couples a married rate, it extends that married rate to married gay couples, domestic partners, or those in civil unions -- even in states that do not allow or recognize same-sex marriages. As The Advocate reported, Esurance was one of the first car insurance companies to extend the married rate to same-sex couples.
"Esurance recognizes all marriages. Plain and simple," said Nancy Abraham, vice president, integrated marketing communications. "This is an important moment in history. Through #EqualDreams, we wanted to stand with our LGBT friends and family, employees and customers and let them know we have them covered."
Esurance made headlines in 2011 with a $50,000 donation to the Trevor Project to help prevent suicides among LGBT youth.
Watch #EqualDreams below.