Oneida Indian Nation of New York launched its Change the Mascot campaign urging the Washington NFL team to change its offensive name. Red Banyan’s goal was not only to raise public awareness and generate support for the campaign but also to position our client as an activist and thought leader.
In Washington, D.C. and all cities where the team played road games. Red Banyan Group conducted targeted, aggressive local outreach. Red Banyan also generated the idea for a symposium on why the name was offensive, held in Washington and timed it to coincide with the NFL’s Fall League Meetings.
As the R-word controversy became a prominent national issue, Red Banyan tracked news and discussions of the topic and advised the Nation on how to strategically respond to the benefit of the Change the Mascot campaign.
Changing the Mascot was regularly highlighted in hundreds of leading news outlets including The Nation, CNN, ESPN, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, regional T.V. stations across the country, and many more. The campaign also generated dozens of op-eds from journalists, thought leaders and general citizens.
The D.C. symposium and the press conference following the Nation’s meeting with the NFL attracted more than 100 journalists and subsequent articles. Throughout the course of the campaign, journalists from publications including USA Today and Sports Illustrated vowed to no longer refer to the team by the R-word mascot.
Additionally, more than 60 D.C.-area clergy members took a stand against “the offensive and inappropriate name of Washington’s NFL team.” The D.C. Council and The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights passed resolutions urging the team to change its name. Political leaders from both sides of the aisle, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and even Barack Obama spoke out against the R-word, all thanks to Change the Mascot’s campaign.
In July 2020, 7 years after the campaign began, the Washington D.C. football team finally announced they were changing their name.