Univision Communications Inc. Joins the “Wear Orange” Campaign as First Spanish-Language Broadcast Partner

“Wear Orange” Campaign Inspired by Chicago Teens Who Refused to Be Silent in the Face of Daily Gun Violence

NEW YORK CITY & MIAMI—The Wear Orange campaign (www.WearOrange.org) announced today that Univision Communications Inc. (UCI), the leading media company serving Hispanic America, will become the first Spanish-language broadcast partner to join more than 350 influencers, corporations, partner organizations and a series of iconic landmarks participating in the second annual National Gun Violence Awareness Day next week on June 2. For the first time, this year’s efforts will also include Spanish-language materials including PSAs and a translated website: VisteDeNaranja.org. In addition to Univision’s Spanish-language platforms, on-air, digital and radio, the English-language networks and platforms of the Fusion Media Group, a recently announced division of UCI, will also participate — including FUSION, THE ROOT, and FLAMA.
“Hispanics, African-Americans and youth in the U.S. are disproportionately affected by gun violence,” said Chad Boettcher, SVP, Social Impact & Managing Director of Univision’s Rise Up. “Univision joins this important initiative to advance its mission to inform and empower our multicultural audience and ensure they receive all the information necessary to make their communities a safer place to live.”

UCI and its brands will lend extensive support to the Wear Orange campaign for National Gun Violence Awareness Day on June 2 including changing several on-air and online logos to the color orange, talent and staff participation and original news content. Specific details include:

• FUSION will air a special programming block tied to the issue on June 2 including the documentary Can You Dig This, executive produced by John Legend. South Los Angeles — what comes to mind is gangs, drugs, liquor stores, abandoned buildings and vacant lots. The last thing that you would expect to find is a beautiful garden sprouting up through the concrete, coloring the urban landscape. As part of an urban gardening movement taking root in South LA, people are planting to transform their neighborhoods and are changing their own lives in the process. Calling for people to put down their guns and pick up their shovels, these “gangster gardeners” are creating an oasis in the middle of one of the most notoriously dangerous places in America. Can You Dig This will air on June 2 @ 8PM.

  In addition, AMERICA with Jorge Ramos will spotlight the efforts of the campaign and FUSION will turn its digital and on-air logos and social media avatars orange, as well as debut a microsite dedicated to Wear Orange and all of FUSION’s gun violence-related content (fusion.net/wearorange).
  

• Univision News’ Primer Impacto will feature a special segment on Wear Orange, and Aquí y Ahora will promote the campaign with on-air mentions. Also, thirteen local Univision stations will participate with on-air mentions and staff wearing orange: Albuquerque, Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, Dallas, El Paso, Fresno, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Phoenix, Sacramento and San Francisco, plus Chicago and Miami will air special segments on gun violence.
  
• Univision Network will feature a special segment on Despierta América focused on how to talk to your kids about guns in order to prevent accidents. Additionally, the talent on El Gordo y La Flaca will wear orange and make an on-air mention about the cause.
  
• Univision Deportes & UniMás talent will wear orange to support the campaign, as well as on-air mentions during Sal y Pimienta on UniMás. Moreover, UniMás will turn its digital and social media logos orange and provide social media support.
  
• Univision Radio & UFORIA will support the campaign with on-air mentions, social media posts, and by inviting talent to wear orange on June 2nd.
  
• The ROOT will participate by turning its logo orange across its social media channels on June 2. It will also provide complementary social coverage and staff will be invited to wear orange to show their support for a future free from gun violence.

Wear Orange was inspired by friends of Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old Chicago high school student killed by gunfire, who decided to honor her life by wearing orange – the color hunters wear in the woods to protect themselves and others. In the months since the launch of Wear Orange and the first-ever National Gun Violence Awareness Day on June 2, 2015—what would have been Hadiya’s 18th birthday—the effort has reached millions of Americans. On December 14, 2015, as part of the commemoration of the three-year mark since the Sandy Hook shooting and in response to the San Bernardino shooting, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, a part of Everytown for Gun Safety, hosted “Orange Walks” to help amplify the gun safety movement. The Orange Walks, which took place in more than 100 cities nationwide, were the biggest offline event in the organization to date. Additionally, Orange carpets replaced the traditional red carpet at Spike Lee’s New York City premiere of Chi-Raq and at the Sundance Film Festival’s debut of Katie Couric’s documentary Under the Gun.

“I’m wearing orange to honor the memories of Hadiya Pendleton, my daughter Samantha who was shot and killed on Mother’s day in 2006 and all the families affected by gun violence,” said Diana Rodriguez, member of the Everytown Survivor Network, a Wear Orange partner. “It’s incredible to see Univision join this effort. The partnership will bring much-needed attention to this very important issue our growing movement to end gun violence.”

There will be opportunities for Americans to get involved with Wear Orange including at the Party for Peace in Chicago and more than 160 Orange events taking place across the country on June 2. These events will showcase the full creativity of Orange supporters, ranging from gatherings in iconic places across the country to concerts, rallies, after-school events, film screenings or several friends gathering to share a picture on social media using the #WearOrange hashtag. Additional events are still being planned. All events are searchable via an online map (available here) and easy to track on June 2 by following the #WearOrange hashtag.

Previously announced Wear Orange campaign details available here.

For Hispanic men aged 18-29, the gun homicide rate is seven times the rate for white men of the same age.[1] African-American men are ten times more likely to be murdered with a gun than white men, and African-American women are more than three times more likely to be murdered with a gun than white women.[2]

[1] Source: Phillip J. Cook & Jens Ludwig, Gun Violence: The Real Costs, Oxford University Press (2000), New York, NY.
[2] Everytown for Gun Safety analysis of data from the CDC, 2010-2014.