THE 14TH ANNUAL SHORTY AWARDS

The Shorty Awards honor the best of social media and digital. View this season's finalists!
From the 12th Annual Shorty Awards

BuzzFeed's Cocoa Butter

Finalist in Multicultural Community Engagement

Objectives

In today’s political and social climate, elevating black voices and spotlighting black culture is more important than ever. From Twitter and Tik Tok to Instagram and  black culture continues to drive conversation around pop culture -- Cocoa Butter aims to create a safe space to have discussions around the issues affecting black communities, acknowledge the work of black icons and newsmakers and celebrate black identity in all of its hues and shades.

Strategy and Execution

Cocoa Butter was launched in 2015 under the umbrella of BuzzFeed’s social and distributed teams where the BuzzFeed audience could catch up on all things black pop culture. Today, Cocoa Butter functions as its own brand, producing original content that is amplifying the voices of underrepresented audiences. 

ORIGINAL CONTENT:

Cocoa Butter creates original content that reflects the stories of people of color. Viral hits like Grandmothers Try Other Grandma’s 's Sweet Potato Pie, Black Dads Try Other Black Dads' Barbecue,   Black Grandparents Play Never Have I Ever and Haitians Try Other Haitian's Kremas have reached more than 55 million lifetime views and has amassed a fanbase of more than 2 million faithful followers.

THE ERA:

In 2019, Cocoa Butter premiered its first-ever serialized project, “Cocoa Butter’s The Era” on Facebook Watch. Executive produced & hosted by Cocoa Butter lead Chantal Rochelle and directed by video producer Jameer Pond, “Cocoa Butter’s The Era” reminisces on the shared nostalgia of all things ‘90s by looking back at the most iconic moments of the decade. The  series featured era-defining celebrities like Eve, Debbie Allen, Questlove, Taye Diggs and Loretta Devine in a whole new light -- sharing hot takes, never before told stories and pivotal moments that shaped the 1990s and rooted so much of our culture today. The series received hundreds of thousands of views, and hundreds of points of engagement.

Results

Cocoa Butter has found viral success in community-driven content that bonds audiences over shared experiences, touches on the issues that matter, and provides a fresh lens on black culture. With an authentic and relatable approach to storytelling, Cocoa Butter has created a safe space for its audience to celebrate identity.

Media

Video for BuzzFeed's Cocoa Butter

Entrant Company / Organization Name

BuzzFeed

Link