MAX: THE ART OF DRAG AT 2023 MIAMI ART BASEL
Max celebrated The Art of Drag at Art Basel with ‘The Art of Drag Truck Tour,’ an activation that brought the queer community and Art Basel attendees together by popping up at drag venues in Miami and giving away drag swag and limited-edition premiums, conducting mini drag-inspired makeovers, and two robust, complete drag makeovers inspired by Max titles, all hosted by Max and amplified by Human By Orientation. The two-day takeover drove buzz and excitement among passersby and dedicated drag fans eager to sit down with a queen and experience the transformative power of this uniquely queer art form.
THE ART OF DRAG HERO VIDEO
During the activation, instead of a standard sizzle reel, we created an 11-minute featurette — inspired by We’re Here — chronicling our full drag transformations and the people participating in them on both sides of the brush. Featuring multiple interviews and story arcs of our makeover subjects and their drag mothers, our “The Art of Drag” featurette combined personal stories and performance footage with conversations about Florida’s drag ban to establish the full context of our activation and create a lasting evergreen asset which will continue to be viewed over time on Max’s YouTube platform. We then used select clips from the featurette as in-feed Reels, both as collabs and as standalone assets for our partners to promote. This allowed us to create premium content assets vs. promotional sizzles, allowing for deeper engagement with our campaign story.
We engaged EqualPride — publisher of leading LGBTQ+ publication Out — as a media amplification partner for a full-scale video and article feature, which served as the primary legacy destination for our activation content and provided its editorial authority, allowing it to live beyond Art Basel. In addition to an article with custom Max banners on Out.com, our EqualPride media buy included social promotion on Out’s Instagram and Facebook, as well as social promotion from Out Traveler and additional placement in the “Related Articles” section of titles The Advocate and Plus.
PALACE ACTIVATION
At the first stop of our tour, Max appeared at South Beach’s iconic and long-standing drag venue, Palace Bar — a perfect playground to launch “The Art of Drag Truck Tour” for brunch attendees and Art Basel passersby. Palace served as the home for Human By Orientation's groundbreaking drag truck, strategically positioned on the sidewalk on Ocean Blvd., capturing the attention of constant foot traffic and engaging passersby with our branding. Max's presence was bold and conspicuous, ensuring the branding was inescapable — a true takeover that drove impressions and reach.
Inspired by Our Flag Means Death, our first transformation subject was Jeff Delmay, board member and co-chair of Equality Florida. The look was an original, sequin-filled interpretation loosely based on Spanish Jackie, played by none other than Leslie Jones, featuring elements of a poet shirt, ruffled sleeves, a shaped coat with a cape, and pirate boots—plus a show-stopping pink ombre wig.
R HOUSE ACTIVATION
For the second day of our drag activation, Max brought the truck to the heart of the Wynwood Arts District into R House’s backyard for a more exclusive experience. R House supported the amplification of the event with digital branding on their screens throughout the venue, a printed menu redesigned with our campaign creative, digital promotion, and more. What set our R House activation apart was the participation of Latrice Royale, who made appearances at two brunch sittings and brought soul and Max specificity to our activation.
Max tapped Kevin Ninh (internet personality and influencer) to receive the Tanya McQuoid glam treatment. With direct makeover inspiration from The White Lotus, the drag transformation drove all the buzz and excitement you can expect among the gays with a killer final look consisting of an attention-grabbing pink fringe and floral print jumpsuit, plus a blonde wig and Monica Vitti-inspired sunglasses.
