Lucas Crigler’s Fateful Sandwich Order

Lucas Crigler began his career as an art director at a boutique advertising agency in Providence, Rhode Island. After five years there, and another three years at RPA, Crigler finally made it to the bigs in New York as an Associate Creative Director at McCann, a global advertising agency.

While still relatively new both to McCann and his role, Crigler was asked to brainstorm ideas for Mastercard’s 2017 Pride campaign.

After a morning of brainstorming, Crigler took a break for lunch, placing a sandwich order at a bustling New York deli.

For millions of Americans, the routine act of ordering a takeout sandwich passes unremarkably, without incident. But on that day, at that New York deli, Lucas Crigler was understandably apprehensive — because Crigler discovered too late that each customer was being called to pick-up their sandwich order based on the name that appeared on their credit card. Had he known, Crigler would have paid cash, as he often did for his own protection.

Here’s the issue:  Lucas Crigler is a transgender man. At the time, though still mid-transition, Crigler was already starting to look masculine – which was in stark contrast to the legal, female birth name on his credit card.  That female name was about to be called via loudspeaker at a restaurant near Crigler’s office. Here’s what happened next.

Lucas Crigler:  “…My heart dropped. I was extremely anxious. I had butterflies in my stomach. I grabbed my sandwich and just ran out because I essentially was outed in public. It was terrifying for me.”

Crigler hadn’t planned to be outed as transgender that day, but that is what happened, as he recounted in a D&AD ‘Work that Matters’ video.

Crigler’s apprehension was not unfounded.

Nearly one-third (32%) of individuals who have shown IDs with a name or gender that did not match their appearance have been denied services or have experienced harassment, humiliation, or assault, according to the National Center for Transgender Equality. Trans and other gender non-conforming people are among the most at-risk for experiencing violence.

As many as one million trans and gender non-conforming Americans are at risk of getting outed by the birth name printed on their IDs. But as destiny would have it, one of those Americans, Lucas Crigler, was assigned to brainstorm Pride creative concepts for Mastercard.  That led him to a Big Idea.

Note

This is the second installment of a two-part series on making a difference for marginalized people, focusing on what seems to be the latest battleground in cultural acceptance: transgender identity.  Part 1 of our series featured a retrospective on the Bud Light Boycott, which was a cautionary tale. If you have not yet done so already, I recommend listening to that episode first, because it will make the triumph of Mastercard’s True Name initiative feel that much more remarkable.

With that, let’s return to the day that Lucas Crigler ran out of the New York deli, afraid for his safety, because the female name on his credit card did not match his masculine appearance. Still shaken by the experience, Crigler’s Big Idea was to wonder whether Mastercard would be willing to partner with banks to print preferred first names, rather than legal first names, on credit cards.

Before Crigler could pitch such a bold idea to Mastercard, he would first need to convince the gatekeepers at McCann, Mastercard’s ad agency. Fortunately for Crigler, he was not alone in this mission. He found a strong ally in his copywriting partner: Hope Nardini.

Crigler and Nardini pitched the idea at an internal McCann brainstorming session.  The response was a resounding:  Hmmm.  Not a ‘no’.  But, not a ‘yes’ either.  Crigler and Nardini discovered that the rest of the creative team didn’t yet understand the opportunity well enough — or at least the opportunity didn’t yet resonate enough with them emotionally.

So Crigler, who notes that he was still somewhat timid at the time, summoned the courage to share his own personal story, first convincing his immediate boss, a Creative Director, and then his boss’ boss, an Executive Creative Director.

With them on-board, McCann began creating a pitch video. They started by hiring a street-team video crew to interview transgender and non-binary attendees at the 2017 Manhattan Pride Parade.

The street team asked the attendees what it was like to use a credit card imprinted with a birth name that mispresented their identity.

Transgender Interviewee 1:  “Handing over my card make me feel anxious and nervous.”

Transgender Interviewee 2:  “It puts me in a place where I feel like I’m in danger. It just sucks every single time.”

Transgender Interviewee 3:  “They look at it and they look at you. And they look at it and look at you.”

Transgender Interviewee 4:  “Oh, is this actually you?”

These clips are actually from a subsequently-produced case study video, but are representative.

Transgender Interviewee 5:  “So, I handed him my credit card.”

Transgender Interviewee 6:  “Go away! So you’re really a girl?”

Transgender Interviewee 7:  “If we see you again, you know we’re basically going to kick your a**.”

Transgender Interviewee 8:  “My friends were like the guy has a knife. Then I was like really paranoid about it, and it really f***** me up.”

Not every experience was so extreme, of course. But still frustrating.

Transgender Interviewee 9:  “It’s tough to have a reminder every single day of the name that you have chosen to move away from.”

For transgender Americans, the birth name on their credit card was a reminder of struggle and difficulty and a potential trigger for assault and discrimination. Clearly, an agonizing problem. But, putting yourself in the position of the Mastercard account lead at McCann, would you have asked your client to be the hero that solves that problem?

Context

Mastercard

Consider this:  Along with Visa, American Express, and Discover, Mastercard is one of four major US credit card processors. In terms of market share, the Mastercard payment network handles 37% of all US credit card transactions.

Interestingly, though, Mastercard does not extend credit or issue credit cards. That’s what banks do. So, it’s the banks, not Mastercard, who print names on credit cards.

Legal Names

Plus: Legal concerns were a legitimate obstacle. It was customary at the time for the name printed on credit cards issued by banks to match the customer’s legal name. Security protocols forced transgender and non-binary people to use their birth names on credit cards, against their will.

That wouldn’t be as much of a problem for transgender cardholders if it were easy for them to change their legal name with the government.

Yet even in areas where legal, transgender name changes can be time consuming, difficult, and even insulting. Apparently, some jurisdictions require that applications for transgender name changes be accompanied by a diagnosis of a medical disorder. According to Crigler, the financial burden of a legal name change can also be an issue, especially for transgender people who experience much higher levels of unemployment yet have been disowned by their families and left to survive on their own.

Transgender Discrimination

So, here’s where we’re at: The majority of transgender men and women didn’t have a legal document which affirmed their preferred identity.

The consequences included harassment, violence, as well as complications getting: a job, enrolling in school, opening a bank account, traveling on planes, accessing healthcare, and securing housing.

With all that in mind, Lucas Crigler eventually convinced the account strategists at McCann to pitch Mastercard on what would become known as the True Name feature of eligible credit and debit cards.  That pitch is next.

The ‘True Name’ Pitch

To help sell the True Name idea, McCann created an emotionally impactful ‘before and after’ vision video. You’ve already heard similar audio to the ‘before’ clips.  The mood of the pitch video then changes when the transgender participants are asked what it would be like to get a Mastercard imprinted with their chosen name. Suddenly, heartbreak turns to heartwarming, with testimonials like this…

Transgender Interviewee:  “Seeing a name that you connect with. It feels like acceptance. Being seen and being acknowledged as the person you are. It’s the best feeling in the world. It will change lives.”

Creative Treatment

Despite society’s marginalization of transgender people, McCann came to understand that the creative treatment of their pitch video had tapped into a human desire that’s universal.  According to Crigler: “For Mastercard, the goal is not only that everyone is included, but that everyone (is) included the way they are, as their true selves. It’s not only a matter of acceptance, it’s acceptance with identity and dignity.”

There is a big difference between acceptance conditional on conformity versus acceptance of your true self.

That’s not just a transgender need. It’s a universal human need. And it’s not a new idea. Presbyterian minister Fred Rogers, better known at TV’s Mr. Rogers, well understood that everyone wants to be accepted for their true selves.

Fred Rogers, as ‘Mr. Rogers’: “I like you as you are. Exactly and precisely, I think you turned out nicely. And I like you as you are. I like you as you are without a doubt or question or even a suggestion.  Because I like you as you are.”

Mr. Rogers’ sentiment helps explain why True Name by Mastercard is so powerful.  As I understand it, the term ‘CHOSEN’ name is more commonly-used in the transgender community, while the term ‘PREFERRED name’ is more commonly-used in the financial industry. So, why wasn’t the Mastercard initiative called ‘Chosen Name’ or ‘Preferred Name’?  Because TRUE name conveys so much more about the universal human need to be accepted for your true self.

This universality yields the ‘diversity dividend’ which System1 research defines as an ad which is strong and emotionally effective for everyone and means even more to those who see themselves represented.

“Oh my God, we have to do this.”

So, once the True Name vision video was ready, McCann sought the right time to pitch the idea. That happened in 2018 at the end of a meeting about something else. McCann showed the vision video to Cheryl Guerin, Mastercard’s then Executive Vice President of North American Marketing and Communications. Her reaction: “Oh my God, we have to do this.”

McCann was pitching to a receptive audience: Mastercard’s ‘Acceptance Matters’ initiative had been supporting the LGBTQ community for more than a decade.

That said, by 2018, LGBTQ influencers were already getting frustrated by what they call ‘rainbow-washing’ — which describes when companies slap a rainbow onto a product during Pride Month but provide comparatively little support to the LGBTQ community the other 11 months of the year.

Mastercard was being challenged to do more. The goal: “Don’t just celebrate acceptance, enable acceptance.”

MasterCard’s Courage

Despite Cheryl Guerin’s enthusiasm, a shift in financial industry practices is easier imagined than done. Especially since Mastercard cannot make the changes on its own, but instead would need to rely on banks to do most of the work.

And there was a lot of work to do.  It’s not just a matter of printing a preferred name on a credit card. Policy changes were required. High-priced lawyers needed to review the legal risks of collecting payments when the legal name of the credit card holder is different from the name on the card of the person charged. Credit card application systems needed to be revised. Fraud protection systems would need to be modified. Email programming needed to be changed to insert preferred first names rather than legal first names. Website programming would also need to be modified so that bank customers are referred to by their chosen name while accessing credit card account information online. The programming to print credit card statements needed to be similarly adjusted. Further, every bank teller at every branch, and every customer service agent at every call center, would need to be re-trained to use the cardholder’s preferred name and pronouns.

Let’s face it:  Collectively, that is very time-consuming and expensive work, just to serve a tiny minority of credit card customers.

With all that in mind, now think about the power relationship between the Mastercard payment network and the banks which issue the credit cards that use that network.

In that business-to-business relationship, Mastercard is the vendor; the banks are the customers. Given that ‘he who pays the piper calls the tune’, the banks have a lot of power. If unhappy with Mastercard, a bank can switch to an alternative transaction processer, including the widely accepted Visa payment network.

So, imagine the cajónes of Mastercard, and in particular Cheryl Guerin, for lobbying their customer banks to better serve transgender cardholders, knowing that would require the banks to make extensive investments of time and money to change policies, infrastructure, and training. That’s a lot to ask of anyone, let alone a customer.

Cheryl Guerin, Mastercard’s Internal Champion

Every bold change at a corporation needs an internal champion. At Mastercard, that champion was Cheryl Guerin.  Guerin personally took the lead in selling the True Name idea both within Mastercard itself and with their partner banks.

Guerin was quoted as saying: “At Mastercard, we strive to cultivate a culture of inclusion that extends both internally and externally. We are continuing to call on the industry to help us ensure that each and every person’s financial products can reflect their true identity.”

The courage that took didn’t end there.

After more than a year of trying, when no bank had yet implemented the True Name feature, Mastercard publicly announced the program anyway.

The public doesn’t always think of financial industry executives as being purposeful and courageous, yet Mastercard actually published a True Name launch video with a “Coming Soon” tagline at the end.

Did Guerin’s challenge to banking industry work?

That’s next.

Mastercard’s True Name Launch

By 2019, two years after Lucas Crigler first imaged the idea, Guerin and her team hoped that interested banks would finally commit to offering chosen names on credit cards if Mastercard could generate demand for it — especially if the media and general public reacted positively to Mastercard’s PR.

News Announcer 1: “Mastercard announces as a new initiative for transgender card holders.”

News Announcer 2: “They’re calling it True Name.”

News Announcer 3: “The company will now let transgender people use their chosen names on debit and credit cards.”

News Announcer 4: “MasterCard making a major and historic move that could help stop discrimination.”

News Announcer 5: “Focusing on inclusion and fighting discrimination at the cash register.”

News Announcer 6: “How something so small could mean so much.”

Within the first three weeks of the launch announcement, True Name achieved a 19:1 earned to paid media ratio, generating 2 billion media impressions. That publicity yielded a 3,000% increase in the volume of online positive sentiment about Mastercard.

While paid media was primarily targeted to LGBTQ media outlets, Mastercard’s PR team earned headline stories in mainstream press, including: CNN, Good Morning America, The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNBC, TIME, Newsweek, Associated Press, Bloomberg, Fast Company, USA Today, HuffPost, Forbes, and the Daily Mail.

Beyond the initial launch, True Name earned another 1 billion free media impressions for Mastercard. Social and influencer marketing further extended that outreach to millions more.

The extensive and positive media coverage had the desired effect.

First Adopters: BMO Harris and Superbia

Finally, on November 8, 2019, Mastercard announced that BMO Harris Bank and Superbia Credit Union would be the first financial institutions to implement the True Name feature for eligible credit cards, debit cards and prepaid cards, without the requirement of a legal name change.

Superbia was not unexpected as an early adopter because the credit union already specialized in serving the LGBTQ+ community.

On the other hand, BMO Harris is a mainstream bank with roots going back to the 1800s. Headquartered in Chicago, BMO Harris is now known simply as BMO. After several acquisitions, BMO now provides services to 13 million customers.

“Breaking down barriers to inclusion requires bold action,” said Ernie Johannson, group head for North American Personal and U.S. Business Banking at BMO. “We are bringing True Name to BMO to embrace our cardholders’ true identities and empower them to make real financial progress without fear of discrimination.”

Next: Citibank

Next, in October 2020, Citi partnered with Mastercard to become the first global bank to launch the True Name feature, providing customers with the ability to use their chosen first name on eligible Citi credit cards.

The following month, during November’s Trans Awareness Week, Citi rolled-out a public relations and paid media campaign. Initial placements included online display advertising and a promoted video, with this tag:

Voiceover:  “If you are transgender or non-binary and go by a different first name, let’s update your eligible Citi Credit card.”

The majority of the paid digital budget was allocated to sponsored content delivered via Pride Media.  Additional reach was generated by tapping into Citi’s content arrangements with The New York Times, NBC, and other media outlets. Citi also hired several trans and nonbinary influencers to share the True Name announcement with their audiences. The highest profile influencer was Laverne Cox, best known at the time for her breakout performance as a transgender character on the Netflix series: ‘Orange Is the New Black’.

Citi consulted with GLAAD, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, on the campaign’s outreach components, partner consideration set and talent selection.

Within the first year, over 11,000 Citi customers updated their chosen first name on their eligible credit cards and more than 200,000 consumers visited Citi.com/UpdateMyName to learn more.

Republic Bank

Republic Bank & Trust, which operates banking centers in five US states, became the first community bank to offer a Mastercard True Name debit card, launching with this ad:

Republic Bank:  “For transgender people, a secure payment means paying for something without being disrespected, humiliated, even assaulted, simply because the name on your card doesn’t match how you identify. This is about more than just keeping a card safe.  It’s about keeping us safe. True Name by MasterCard, the first card that allows you to display your chosen name. Because that’s who you truly are.”

Bank partner participation continued, in Europe and elsewhere.

At last count, the Mastercard True Name feature was available to 900 million people in 32 countries.

When we return, I’ll answer the Big Question.

The Big Question

The Big Question is:  Why did Mastercard bother? Why did Mastercard go to so much effort to better serve a tiny fraction of their customer’s customers?

The reason is both strategic and altruistic:

• Strategic because policy and infrastructure accommodations for minorities have the effect of expanding Mastercard’s user base.
• Altruistic because Mastercard addresses an otherwise unmet need for the accommodated minorities.

In addition to trans and non-binary people, Mastercard has also overcome obstacles to better serve refugees, the blind, and people suffering from dementia. Mastercard does that both because it’s the right thing to do AND because it’s in their financial best interest.

And it feels good too.

As Lucas Crigler told Muse by Clio: “I’m overwhelmed with emotion about just how many lives this is going to change. It really goes beyond advertising. I’m thrilled at the response and really proud of the work.”

Mastercard now receives thank you letters from consumers, grateful for the way that a True Name credit card changed their lives.

“It’s the most gratifying thing I’ve ever worked on,” said Cheryl Guerin, “because you know you’re having an impact.”

Agreed:  A meaningful impact, a triple win, for a cause, for the project team, and a company.

Though discrimination causes transgender income and spending to be lower than average, it is also true that some groups within the broader LGBTQ community, including gay men, actually over-index for affluence.  Affluent people spend a lot of money on their credit cards and are a core target audience for transaction processors.

While appearing on the WARC podcast, Mastercard Chief Marketing Officer Raja Rajamannar affirmed…

Mastercard CMO Raja Rajamannar:  “True name… is one of the most successful launches ever and it’s running in more than 30 countries around the world, very successfully and very profitably.”

Very successfully.  And very profitably.