How the voice of Bernie Wagenblast encouraged support of the NYC trans community | The Drum

November 4, 2024 | 4 min read

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Example of the award-winning work

Despite NYC’s progressive landscape, transgender people continue to face discrimination, harassment, and violence across the country. An NYC Comptroller survey revealed the subway as a location that evokes anxiety among transgender people due to the potential for discrimination and harassment.

Studies show that people who personally know transgender individuals are more likely to be accepting and supportive of trans people in general. Turns out every New Yorker already knows someone: Bernie Wagenblast. Our campaign aimed to leverage her well-known and familiar voice to show that transgender people are already a part of everyday life—even guiding their daily commutes.

The objective was twofold. Bernie's voice can serve as a beacon of acceptance and reassurance that helps transgender people feel seen. For all subway riders, Bernie’s familiar voice can foster empathy and understanding.

For Transgender Day of Visibility, we updated the audio announcements on the New York City subway system with the female voice of Bernie Wagenblast. Bernie, one of the most famous voices in NY, is the subway announcer who has guided millions of riders for the last 2 decades and recently came out as a transgender woman. Bernie rerecorded her iconic announcements in her new voice along with a personal message promoting awareness. It was the first time an openly transgender person made the subway announcements, showing New Yorkers that transgender people are a part of the world around them and everyday life.

We took over the subway station with OOH ads and dynamic digital signage at the Christopher Street station, a location with deep significance to the transgender community.

We created a virtual T Line subway map, highlighting historical landmarks significant to NYC’s transgender community.

And finally, Bernie hosted a 6-part podcast mini-series called IN TRANSIT discussing gender identity, inclusive language, transgender health issues, and LGBT history, each episode the length of a typical subway ride.

At a time when press coverage is dominated by anti-trans laws and negative anti-woke stories, this campaign injects celebratory and positive trans visibility into the news cycle.

Bernie’s story has been featured in many media outlets including the New York Times, New York Post, ABC, BBC, CBS, Good Morning America, Globo, USA Today, amNY and more.

The MTA’s social media was flooded with positive messages (instead of the usual complaints), and Bernie received an outpouring of support.

Beyond numbers and impressions, we created a platform for transgender issues and generated significant conversation and celebration of transgender people, the ultimate goal of Transgender Day of Visibility.

Ready to get your work recognized on a global stage? Enter The Drum Awards today. Need more inspiration, read our Award Winning Case Studies.

Winning Gold at The Drum Awards for Advertising in the Transit category was Callen-Lorde, Metropolitan Transportation Authority and NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project for a campaign that supported the transgender community. Here is the award-winning case study.Ready to get your work recognized on a global stage? Enter The Drum Awards today. Need more inspiration, read our Award Winning Case Studies.