The Challenge

It’s common practice for Asian Canadians to adopt an anglicized name, because seeing a jarring red line under one’s name says in the language of software something Asians hear all too often: You don’t belong. To combat this microaggression, Citizen teamed up with Elimin8Hate - a Vancouver-based advocacy group - to create a custom dictionary of more than 8,000 Asian names for Microsoft Word, the world’s most popular word processor. This free plug-in made it readily available for Canadians to download the dictionary—instantly normalizing Asian identity for more than a billion users in just a few clicks. Our plugin has since been adopted by Microsoft in a global update.

What We Did

In partnership with Elimin8Hate, we created a first-of-its kind resource and developed the world’s first custom dictionary of Asian names containing more than 8,000 monikers from over a dozen countries. 

To promote the campaign at launch, we executed an integrated strategy, including out-of-home ads, YouTube pre-roll placements, corporate outreach to Canadian business leaders, and conducting ongoing earned media and influencer outreach. Earned efforts hinged on leveraging Elimin8Hate spokespeople and ambassadors, such as Zoe Si, for interviews and social posts. 

Over the course of the next eight months, the campaign garnered attention from our number one target - Microsoft, who has now implemented our dictionary into their 365 applications. To spread this exciting news, we worked with Microsoft to create a joint press release and share the news across Canada, ultimately securing additional interviews with Elimin8Hate spokespeople to continue spreading their message and the importance of dismantling Asian hate.