T-Pain and Normani Spin a Groove for Google's Black-Owned Friday

T-Pain and Normani weave righteous rhymes to boost Black-owned businesses in the run-up to Nov. 26, “Black Friday,” when retailers traditionally offer deals to jump-start the gifting season.

The recording artists duet in a shoppable video that recasts the day as “Black-owned Friday,” reminding shoppers to support African American enterprises struggling amid the pandemic. Google, the U.S. Black Chambers and creative agency BBH USA developed the initiative, now in it second year.

And here’s the shoppable version.

Comedian Desi Banks, singer Tanerélle and dozens of SMB owners also appear, along with 100 products from 50 Black-owned establishments. Directed by Daps and awash in positive vibes, its “Wake up” refrain/call-to-action might become your earworm du jour.

“Even the candles came from a Black man
Furniture handcrafted by Black hands
You know we eatin’ good food cooked in Inglewood
Look on the package and you can see the hood
I need a good collar for my dog—I’ma hit up my dog
I need flowers for my mother—I’ma hit up my brother
It’s about time we start helping each other.
 … Wake up … Wake up … Wake up.”

T-Pain, last spotted pouring it on for Lipton Iced Tea, composed the track.

“When I founded Nappy Boy Entertainment in 2005, I had no idea all the directions it would go,” the Grammy winner writes in a blog post. “What started as a record label now includes a podcast, gaming and a book—I’m proud of this business. Along the way, I’ve developed a true passion for small businesses and I admire the hard work it takes to make them successful. I love doing whatever I can to support them.”

The campaign invites Black-owned businesses to enhance their visibility via digital tools including a special “B”/heart icon. That badge appears throughout the film and adorns results for Google searches such as “Black-owned businesses near me.”

“We wanted to make it really clear that the things you’re already shopping for are available Black-owned, you just have to search. Or in this case, shop the film,” BBH group creative director Estefanio Holtz tells Muse.

The team tapped Daps to direct based on his ability to build visual stories around pop songs. The mega-popular “Walk It Talk It” video for Migos ft. Drake serves as a prime example.

Banks nearly steals the show, hamming it up as a cable-TV shopping host. “Once we’re transported into the world of Black-owned Friday, he seamlessly becomes a hype-man for tons of Black-owned businesses,” says Kasia Canning, also an agency GCD.

“We only had two days to shoot, so we tried to squeeze in as many products into as many scenes as possible,” Canning recalls. “At one point, we just had an assembly line of people handing products to Desi Banks, saying ,’OK, this is … uh … a really nice hand sanitizer from Hue Noir, go! OK, next up we have Avec drink mixers! They’re all-natural, go!’ “

Throughout the spot, T-Pain rocks a rose gold watch from Talley & Twine, one of the featured businesses. It’s clearly visible when he operates the elevator buttons.

You can watch some short social edits below:

CREDITS

CLIENT – GOOGLE

SENIOR DIRECTOR, SMALL BUSINESS MARKETING
Claire Mudd

PRODUCT MARKETING MANAGER
Wendy Gonzalez

PRODUCT MARKETING MANAGER
Nicholas Underhill

PRODUCT MARKETING MANAGER
Lisa Hiatt

===================

AGENCY – BBH

CCO
Rafael Rizuto

GROUP CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Estefanio Holtz

GROUP CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Kasia Canning

CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Ty Johnson

CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Danny Yirgou

DESIGNER
Aedan Clark

COPYWRITER
Chris Davis

—

PRESIDENT
Amani Duncan

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Kyra Beckmann

BUSINESS DIRECTOR
Miranda Hardy

GROUP ACCOUNT DIRECTOR
Maleika Cole

ACCOUNT SUPERVISOR
Sonali Shukla

ACCOUNT MANAGER
Jay McGill

PRODUCER
Meetra Javed

—

STRATEGY DIRECTOR
Beth Beckman

SENIOR STRATEGIST
Timanni Walker

BUSINESS AFFAIRS DIRECTOR
Alice Isner

BUSINESS AFFAIRS DIRECTOR
Daniella Vargas

BUSINESS AFFAIRS
Yasmeen Taylor

HEAD OF PRODUCTION
John Connolly

SUPERVISING PRODUCER
Kerry Mack

===================

PRODUCTION – ANONYMOUS

DIRECTOR
Daps

PRODUCER
Sara Lacombe

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
SueEllen Clair

DP
Rob Witt

ART DIRECTOR
Cody Fusina

===================

PHOTOGRAPHY – VARIOUS

BTS PHOTOGRAPHER
Mahaneela

PRODUCT PHOTOGRAPHER
Danielle Alston

RETOUCHING
Ty Johnson, Dippin’ Sauce, Ben Taylor

===================

EDITORIAL – CABIN

EDITOR
Randy Baublis

ASSISTANT EDITOR
Chris Kelley

PRODUCER
Hope DuHaime

===================

VFX – CARBON

SENIOR PRODUCER
Kate Smith

VFX SUPERVISOR
Tim Little

CREATIVE DIRECTOR
John Price

FLAME ARTIST
Connor Mullaney

MOTION DESIGNER
Matt Beharry

===================

COLOR – COMPANY 3

COLORIST
Sofie Friis Borup

===================

SOUND DESIGN – SONIC UNION

SOUND ENGINEER
Steve Rosen

===================

WEBSITE – REHAB

CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Neil Cooper

SENIOR ACCOUNT DIRECTOR
Blair Richardson

SENIOR PRODUCER
Alicja Czarnecka

LEAD DEVELOPER
Steven Hall

DEVELOPER
Tautvydas Pocius

QA MANAGER
Claire Maillot

DESIGN DIRECTOR
Anthony Hurlstone

UX DESIGNER
Vasileios Matsoukas

HEAD OF PRODUCTION
Ian Applegate

===================

TALENT

MUSIC
T-Pain, Normani

QVC HOST
Desi Banks

SHOPPER
Tanerélle

BUSINESS OWNER (SWÉ ACTIVE)
Gemini Georges

BUSINESS OWNER (HER STORY)
Sophia Ritter

BUSINESS OWNER (LIBERATE LA)
Brittany Davis

BUSINESS OWNER (NOW COLLECTION)
Gabrielle & Rachel Newman

BUSINESS OWNER (SILVERBACK COFFEE OF RWANDA)
Jack Karuletwa

BUSINESS OWNER (NAPPILY NATURALS)
Umaar Norwood & Sharon Williams-Norwood

BUSINESS OWNER (NEON COWBOYS)
Asia Hall