While some brands were busy appealing to attendees of international art fairs like Art Basel and SCOPE during Miami Art Week 2023, Max was driving a vibrant box truck—and layers of engagement—along The Art of Drag Pop-Up Truck Tour. The brand sashayed into the Palace Bar and R House Wynwood during Art Week to celebrate drag and uplift the LGBTQ+ community. And it was all delivered through the lens of the network’s drag programming, including HBO Original “We’re Here” and Discovery+ series “Trixie Motel.”
The campaign, powered by Max’s Human By Orientation platform for queer consumers, and created in partnership with LGBTQ+ nonprofit Equality Florida, was anchored by a colorful mobile unit featuring original, drag-inspired artwork by Mithsuca Berry on one side, and a large window on the other to showcase the activities inside.
The Art of Drag Pop-Up Truck Tour kicked off on Dec. 8 at the Palace Bar in South Beach, where two seated brunches were hosted. During each experience, attendees were treated to top-tier drag shows and appearances by popular queens, like Florida native and former “RuPaul’s Drag Race” favorite Latrice Royale, who will star in season four of “We’re Here.”
More Drag-Inspired Campaigns:
- Taco Bell Sashays into LGBTQ+ Hearts with a Drag Brunch Series
- Yahoo’s Global ‘Let’s Glow’ Campaign Supports Year-round Efforts to Celebrate the LGBTQ+ Community
Pop-up performances and other surprises were also revealed throughout, and drag performers made themselves available for selfies with fans. In addition to consumers, influential attendees and performers boarded the truck to get full drag makeovers and slip into their performance ensembles. Max executed the same experiential strategy at R House the following day.
Beyond the brunch performances, attendees at each stop could hop onboard the truck to receive free drag makeovers inspired by Max characters (think: Tanya McQuoid from “The White Lotus”), snag premium giveaways and partake in a branded photo moment. Trixie Cosmetics, created by the star of “Trixie Motel,” was also on-site dishing out an abundance of free products and engaging with consumers. To boot, Equality Florida’s co-chair himself got a full drag makeover and performed for attendees.
The entire program was amplified on social by Max, the performers, Trixie Cosmetics, Equality Florida and media partner EqualPride.
“We don’t just show up during Pride. We have year-long efforts and the work that we do year-round is through Human by Orientation, our always-on platform for the LGBTQ+ community. It’s a social-forward platform, but then we also have these in-real-life moments,” says Jackie Gagne, svp-multicultural marketing at Max and HBO. “Our overarching goal for this particular initiative was to find a way to authentically, meaningfully reach Miami’s LGBTQ+ community during Miami Art Week… We see it as an opportunity to connect the community and the festivalgoers and celebrate art together. It’s a way we’re able to really facilitate those connections and amplify our efforts.” (Agency: Lupine Creative)
More Scenes from The Art of Drag Pop-Up Truck Tour:
Photo credit: Courtesy of Max