If you are one of the thousands of people who have drive on Sunset Blvd over the past month you have likely seen “FAME” by Sheeraz on a 100 foot billboard towering over you and stealing the attention from Apple, Disney, Netflix and HBO on the same block. FAME is a media company focused on creating stars, educating brands and influencers with their masterclass, and running campaigns for the biggest companies and celebrities in the world.
Sheeraz never misses an opportunity to boost the sales of a product or launch someones career but not today. Today he is talking about one thing: black lives matter. Hasan has put a new skin with this message on it over FAME’s original call to action promoting their services.
“My mother taught me one thing, your life is a gift from God. What you do with it is your gift back! God has given me a platform in Hollywood with Fame by Sheeraz and I’m going to use it. So I turned the biggest and best billboard on Sunset Blvd to send a loud message that ‘BLACK LIVES MATTER.’” It’s no small feat commissioning a crane to rebrand such a large billboard, especially in the middle of a pandemic and riot and on a moment’s notice on a Saturday. But that’s Sheeraz Hasan.
When it’s time to act, he doesn’t hesitate. Also the location of the banner is particularly powerful as directly below it, on the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Doheny is where a military barricade has met thousands of protestors over the past week.
Make no mistake, in today’s climate any message you say about a politically trending topic will cause backlash. But even to the king of marketing and media in Hollywood, this doesn’t matter. All that matters in this moment are black lives and making sure they know they are not alone and they are heard.
