People with multicultural backgrounds often feel the need to alter their names to assimilate, be accepted, or to not have to correct pronunciations. WhatsApp aimed to raise awareness around a reality shared by many of the brand’s users, and demonstrate that by celebrating authentic names and their pronunciations we can build more inclusive communities. So we set out to share the experiences of two cross-cultural stars who could relate: Hasan Minhaj and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

During NBA’s All-Star Weekend, WhatsApp created a short film that brought together Giannis Antetokounmpo, famous for his basketball skills and unique name, and Hasan Minhaj, the comedian who publicly taught Ellen, one of America’s most popular daytime talk show hosts, how to pronounce his name, for a game of HORSE.

The catch? HORSE was replaced with Giannis’ rarely seen, real Yoruba last name ADETOKUNBO. Playing by a new set of rules, the two went head-to-head using every letter in Giannis’ name to explore topics related to immigration, the meaning of their names, family dynamics on WhatsApp, and how being cross-cultural is their biggest strength – inspiring WhatsApp’s 2B cross-cultural users to do the same, all while attempting to beat each other in the game. Unsurprisingly, Giannis was crowned the winner, but not without some competition and hilarious jokes thrown at him from Hasan.

The film centered around the fact that people with cross-cultural backgrounds are often forced to alter, change, adapt, or assimilate their names to fit in where they live. When they’re forced to change their name, they’re also forced to change a part of their culture, leaving this community at odds with themselves and their own heritage. To talk about this issue in the most authentic way possible, we wanted to tap talent from the audience we were speaking to. Through these relatable voices we aimed to instill a sense of empowerment and inspire cultural pride in cross-cultural people, while organically bringing our brand platform to life – There’s No One Like Us.

The work ran across WhatsApp, Giannis' and Hasan's social channels, and YouTube and YouTube Shorts. The work ran from 2/19/2023 to 2/28/2023.

We connected two people, from two different cultures, who share the same experience of navigating multiple and/or hard-to-pronounce names. Through a comedic conversation, we were able to raise awareness around the less-funny reality that billions of WhatsApp users face daily. The relatability of their stories paired with a game played by millions around the world was able to authentically position the brand as an ally and advocate for the cross-cultural community. All while showing the diaspora how to celebrate their names and cultures.

The film resonated online, generating over 1B total impressions and a 95.1% positive sentiment while encouraging those in the multicultural community to not only share, but celebrate their names.