At a time when new federal orders threaten to divide our nation by excluding certain groups, the city of Los Angeles came out with a very different message this week: Everyone is welcome here.
That message—with the hashtag #everyoneiswelcome—is the basis for a new video from Discover Los Angeles, the city’s destination marketing organization. The short film was released on the city’s social media channels late Monday and notched more than 500,000 views in the first 24 hours.
The piece is one giant metaphor. In it, dozens of different paper planes with patterns that evoke flags from countries around the world “fly” into different parts of L.A. The film is set to the song “Real Love Baby” by Los Angeles local Father John Misty. It also features cameos by a number of local cult heroes, as well as dozens of regular Angelenos who were plucked from the streets for the shoot.
Perhaps the best part: The video was created entirely by DiscoverLA, a first for the DMO’s creative team.
Ernest Wooden, Jr., president and CEO for Discover Los Angeles, said in a statement that the film was designed to celebrate L.A.’s diversity.
“As one of the planet’s most diverse metro areas with residents hailing from 140 countries who speak more than 224 different languages, Los Angeles is uniquely poised to launch such a campaign,” said Wooden, who added that last year L.A. welcomed more than 47.3 million visitors. “Diversity and inclusivity have always been cornerstones of Los Angeles culture, but there has never been a more crucial time to reinforce these points.”
