The archive · Marketing & Growth · Marketing decision · 2022
Closeup's Decentraland City Hall of Love mints NFT marriage certificates - ADFEST Grande
For couples denied the right to marry, Closeup built a free Decentraland city hall where any couple seals their love as an NFT marriage certificate.
Closeup (Unilever)
What it had to solve
Closeup's #FreeToLove purpose faced political setbacks to marriage equality, and with a toothpaste-sized budget the brand needed earned media to show it champions all kinds of love.
How it works
Closeup, Unilever's oral-care brand, had championed 'freedom to love' for years through its #FreeToLove platform. In 2022, with marriage equality still denied to same-sex, interracial, intercaste and interfaith couples in many countries, the brand wanted to keep the conversation alive - but on a toothpaste budget that demanded earned media, not paid reach.
MullenLowe Singapore's answer was to stop fighting the real world and build a better one: the Closeup City Hall of Love in Decentraland. Anyone could create an avatar, be guided through a proposal by a Cupid officiant, hold a virtual wedding with loved ones, and mint a free, untradable NFT marriage certificate on an ERC-1155 smart contract, recognized and validated by more than 222,000 blockchain nodes.
The campaign opened with an open call for couples to be the first to get hitched, tapped VICE to find a couple whose relationship was not legally recognized, and let crypto natives document their weddings in vlogs and live streams. At launch it drew three million impressions in three days and 140M+ PR reach, became a top-trending Decentraland location, and earned Closeup a 9/10 score on celebrating all kinds of closeness - its No. 1 contributor to brand meaningfulness.
In March 2023 the work won the Grande Lotus at ADFEST. Jury president Dan Wright said most metaverse, blockchain and Web3 work is gimmicky, but this piece used blockchain to make the union of two people official in countries where universal marriage is not recognized.
Why it lands
- Building a parallel institution instead of a protest ad let people experience the belief rather than just hear it.
- A free, untradable NFT certificate made the gesture meaningful - it could not be bought or sold, only earned by love.
- Validation by 222,000+ blockchain nodes gave the certificate real-world-style authority, making the metaverse claim feel official.
- Letting crypto creators and excluded couples tell their own stories earned media from communities that usually ignore brands.
- Decentraland gave the idea a home any global couple could reach, matching Closeup's message that love should have no borders.
What it did
Three million impressions in three days, 140M+ PR reach, 20,000+ visitors and 95 publications at launch; it became a top-trending Decentraland location, and Closeup scored 9/10 on 'celebrates all kinds of closeness', its No. 1 meaningfulness driver.
What you can take
When real-world institutions won't recognize a relationship, build a world where the brand's belief is the law - and let the excluded community become the campaign's messengers.
Since then
In March 2023 City Hall of Love won the Grande Lotus at ADFEST 2023, where the Digital & Social jury president cited it as rare Web3 work that used blockchain to make a union official rather than as a gimmick. It became one of the most discussed brand experiments in the early metaverse and a fixture in coverage of NFT-based marketing.
Sources
- ADFEST 2023 winners: City Hall of Love (Digital & Social Lotus)
- APAC's best creative minds take the stage as Adfest 2023 reveals the first round of Lotus Awards winners
- Toothpaste brand Closeup lets couples facing real world obstacles mint NFT marriage certs
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