BWS celebrates Mardi Gras with store makeovers and drag queen deliveries via M&C Saatchi Sydney
This Mardi Gras weekend, BWS celebrated by bringing the glitz and glamour with store makeovers and drag queen drinks deliveries. Together, BWS and M&C Saatchi brought this project to fruition in three of the retailer’s Sydney stores near the Sydney Mardi Gras precinct – BWS Paddington South Dowling Street, BWS Paddington Oxford street and BWS Darlinghurst.
Says Sharon Edmondston, creative director, M&C Saatchi: “The Oxford Street precinct stores proudly wave the flag for the LGBTQI community all year round. So when Mardi Gras was inevitably reimagined to not include the iconic parade, it presented a wonderful opportunity for BWS to deliver back some love, colour and glamour directly to the doors of locals.”
Says Scott Davidson, managing director, BWS: “We are proud partners of the Sydney Mardi Gras because we value diversity and inclusivity. We champion individuality and celebrate the diversity of our team, making sure all team members feel valued, respected and empowered for who they are. Our whole team loves getting involved in the Sydney Mardi Gras celebrations every year.”
As part of the celebration, the three stores had their signage changed to BWYASSS, complete in rainbow colours. BWS has also partnered with show-stopping Sydney drag queen Miss Prada Clutch to deliver some very special party packages. BWS and its parent company Woolworths Group have been official partners of the Sydney Mardi Gras Festival since 2018.
Says Prada Clutch: ‘Yas darlings, I’m so excited to be part of BWS Mardi Gras celebrations. The BWYASSS store signs are fabulous because ‘Yas’ has its origins in our glittering drag community and is a fierce expression of support.”
The party packages include a bottle of super star and Sydney Mardi Gras headliner Rita Ora’s premium tequila brand Próspero and Mishka Vodka as well as glitter props in the Mardi Gras vibe. Customers who entered a competition to win a Mardi Gras party pack personally delivered by Miss Prada Clutch have gone into the draw.
The store makeovers have already gained social media traction with Tik Tok-profile jessksmith2 sharing a video of the BWS Oxford Street, and writing ‘BWS you’ve outdone yourself’. The video has already had almost 130,000 views and almost 18,000 likes.
Woolworths Group also participates in the MidSumma March in Melbourne and other local pride events around Australia. Woolworths Group has a Diversity & Inclusion strategy which is underpinned by its 2025 Sustainability Plan.
Creative Agency: M&C Saatchi
Group Head: Vanessa Boueyres
Senior Account Director: Helene Ioakimidis
Account Manager: Saskia Meagher
Creative Director: Sharon Edmondston
Art Director: Jack Farrell
Senior Copywriter: Janet Evans
Head of TV: Loren August
Producer: Andrew Perry
Print Producer: David Collier
Designer: Veronita Va
Cient: BWS
Head of Marketing: Anna Webster
Head of Brand and Customer Experience: Ken Russell
Brand Manager: Charlotte El Baz
Production Company: The Woodshed
Director – Brad Sayers
Producer – Lee-Ann Hyman
Director of Photography – Mike Perry
9 Comments
but i’m pretty sure the production company is The Woodshed, not Woolsheds.
can we move on from Drag Queens being the default for gay. the community is a lot more diverse and should be represented so.
Drag Queens are and always will be a massive foundation in the LGBQTI+ community (not just gay). And this isn’t only because they are loud and proud but they embrace a culture of inclusion, diversity, and to embrace one’s own identity in a world run by stereotypes.
So selecting a specific queer stereotype wouldn’t really have the same versatility would it?
I bet there are lots of gay etc people who don’t demonstrate their gayness loudly, find such extreme depictions cringeworthy and don’t feel the need to be activist. Surely what they crave is NOT to have to assert their homosexuality every five minutes and would actually just like to be considered as ‘normal’ as straights, with all the subtle (or not) diversity within that group.
Dressing/acting like straight people isn’t really what Mardi Gras is about though… do you know the history?
Mmmm, subtle.
Love it, made me smile. Love ‘BWYASSS’
The mini looks like the next car for Menulog! Nice
She’s hardly annoying.