How Celebrating America Helped Cement Biden's Unity Message

While Inauguration Day went on as planned Wednesday despite the ongoing pandemic—and the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol just two weeks earlier—one tradition did have to be cast aside this year due to Covid-19: the inaugural balls. In their place, newly inaugurated President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris opted to open up the festivities to the entire country, via a primetime special called Celebrating America that aired across ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC and PBS. The star-studded event was hosted by Tom Hanks and included performances from artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Foo Fighters, Katy Perry and John Legend, with 24.9 million viewers tuning into the event across CNN, MSNBC, NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox News (which cut in and out of coverage), according to Nielsen. As the event's executive producers explained to Adweek, everything about Celebrating America—from its title to its lineup—was focused on helping market and reinforce key brand elements of the Biden/Harris presidency. Reinforcing the unity brand Throughout his campaign, Biden was vocal about bringing America together—the topic was a major focus of his inaugural address—and it was key to the inaugural committee that the broadcast reflect the same message. “It was very important to President Biden that it was also a celebration of America,” Celebrating America executive producer Stephanie Cutter told Adweek, “whether it was a frontline healthcare worker, an essential worker or an 8-year-old who was delivering care packages to seniors who couldn't leave their homes. These everyday heroes were a key feature of all of our programming, including the primetime show at the Lincoln [Memorial].” The emphasis on unity came down to the songs the artists sang—Springsteen kicked off the telecast with Land of Hope and Dreams, and Jon Bon Jovi performed Here Comes the Sun—and even the name of the special itself. “The messaging was moving forward as a country,” executive producer Ricky Kirshner said. “That’s why we thought about the [program's] title for a long time. It wasn't a party. It wasn't a celebration. It was celebrating America, which I think is different than us having a celebration. Every act that we met with, we worked really hard to get them to do a song that matters. Not, 'Hey, here's my lead single.'” Former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton made a joint appearance in order to hammer the message home, and discuss the importance of unity and the country coming together to welcome a new president. “We got [them] together and got them to say the message,” Kirshner said. “So, hopefully America will listen.” Keeping everyone safe The team behind the scenes had experience with virtual political events during Covid-19, after producing the Democratic National Convention in August. Celebrating America already planned to have no crowds and a light footprint due to the pandemic, but the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol raised new security concerns. “It got worse on Jan. 6,” Kirshner said. “I don't think it changed what we wanted to do. What did change was we started getting as many people worried about our security as we had been. It pretty much brought home to everyone that we all needed to be protected.” Even though the Celebrating America event was mostly filled with prerecorded performances, Cutter said some talent who had planned on participating pulled out due to security concerns, which she described as “completely understandable.” However, not much else had to change in the planning besides tightened security. The live segments took place at the Lincoln Memorial; the location had not been disclosed prior to showtime. The historic spot echoed the inaugural events earlier in the day. “President Biden felt it was important to take his oath and give his inaugural address from the West Front of the Capitol as a symbol that our democracy cannot be taken from us. We have that same feeling about continuing to produce from the Lincoln Memorial,” Cutter said. Fox goes rogue Though most broadcast networks simulcast Celebrating America, Fox was notably absent from the lineup. The network opted to stick with its regular schedule, which included a new episode of The Masked Singer, while sister network Fox News cut in and out of the special, mostly sticking with its own lineup, Tucker Carlson Tonight and Hannity. “It's always disappointing when Fox chooses to divide and not unite,” Cutter said. “President Biden has been talking about bringing the country together and restore the soul of the nation since he got into the presidential race, and he echoed those themes as president when he took his oath of office.”