Bringing Out the Good: Halifax’s The Human Preservation Co.
HALIFAX–It all started with one simple act of kindness. Back in December, founder and chief entrepreneurial officer of ad agency Extreme Group Paul LeBlanc was inspired to start a motivational line of clothing by a story he heard about an act of kindness.
Jamie-Lynne Knighten found herself at a grocery store checkout with a cranky baby, dead cell phone, a lock on her credit cards, no debit cards and a $200 grocery bill. Just as she was left with no options, 28-year-old Matthew Jackson stepped up from the back of the line and paid her bill.
When Knighten tried to contact Jackson afterwards to properly thank him, she found he was killed in a car accident shortly after his grocery store act of kindness. After finding out that Jackson was known for selfless acts, she began a movement on social media with #MatthewsLegacy to thank him and spread around the kindness he was known for.
Moved to tears while hearing this story, LeBlanc rushed to his partner, Extreme Group president and chief creative officer Shawn King, and got him on board to start an initiative of their own to make use of the agency’s talent to celebrate those who believe in good.
“I’d like to say there was a lot of boardroom sessions and a lot of deep, concerted thinking but the truth is that it just felt right off the top,” LeBlanc said. “The first thing that came to mind when I thought about expressing your beliefs is that there’s fewer ways to do that as intimate as with clothing.”
LeBlanc explains that while they could have communicated their message of being good to others through something like a social media campaign or viral video, they wanted the message to be more long-lasting than just a few minutes on someone’s screen.
“They’re kind of a blip on the radar,” he said. “They’re momentary 15 minutes or 15 seconds of joy and then everyone goes about their day. But when you’re wearing a message like ‘Be Human,’ you’re kind of a walking billboard for that .. showcasing it to other people and other audiences.”
LeBlanc sees The Human Preservation Co. as a way to inspire people to do minor acts of kindness for fellow humans to make the world a bit of a better place to live. He says that while most people don’t know how they can help solve major problems around the world, changing a few things in your day to day life is something anyone can do.
After the “Be Human” message had been out in the world for a while, LeBlanc and King began to notice an unexpected side effect. Not only did wearing it on a t-shirt or bumper sticker spur conversations with strangers, it also changed the behaviours of wearers.
“You kinda can’t be a jerk if you’ve got the t-shirt on because all someone has to do is call it out,” King said. “That was a surprising impact I wasn’t expecting. I always saw it as you wear the shirt and it’ll send the message to people and hopefully remind them to be a little kinder to each other but it has as much of an impact on yourself when you know you’ve got that shirt on.”
“If someone’s walking around with a shirt that says ‘be human’ or ‘be kind to each other’ not only does that send a message to the person who sees it but the person wearing it, believe it or not, becomes a little more aware. It’s happened to me … Whenever I’m wearing the shirt I’m very conscious of it and it has directly impacted my actions.”
The Human Preservation Co. team works in close cooperation with fans and consumers to get out messages that reflect how people want to live their lives and become better people. LeBlanc says they also try to make the delivery of their products a special and memorable experience for those receiving them.
“It is a brand that’s trying to stay in touch with customers. We’re not sitting behind a locked room and coming up with our ideas and pushing them to the market. The customers are voting on which ones appeal to them and which ones don’t.”
LeBlanc and King hope not only to inspire people to do good through their brand, but also to launch random acts of kindness directly. Their first act is coming in September, which they will film to help others consider doing similar acts.
“My hope is that it just makes people a little more conscious of the other humans in their lives and that they take a moment to recognize them in some way, shape or form, be it a stranger or someone you know,” LeBlanc said.
“You send a note of thanks to somebody or that you think they’re great or hold the door open for somebody, just the old-timey gestures that made us human and that’s the whole rally cry for the brand, is to just remind each other and ourselves to just Be Human.”