The Future is Voting
When we were creating this campaign for HeadCount to mobilize voters for the 2018 midterm elections, we were inspired by the generation of young people who were already taking action to build a brighter future. We decided to put these young people and the issues they are leading the charge on front and center. And turn their smartphones into a megaphone.
Kicking off with the rally cry from Cameron Kasky’s March for Our Lives speech, the anthem film featured activists and Parkland survivors, X González and David Hogg, actress and activist Yara Shahidi, and songwriter and rapper Kevin Abstract, alongside first-time voters.
Short issues-based films called young voters to the polls to make their voices heard, and Giphy stickers let them share the reasons they were voting with their followers. HeadCount registered young voters at large events and music festivals around the country. And on National Voter Registration Day, everyone from Ellen and Seth Meyers to Jonathan Van Ness, Sheryl Crow, and Amandala Stenberg shared our content, encouraging young voters to head to the polls.
“We are too young to vote but soon we will be able to vote.
We will vote you out.”
— Florence Yared, Parkland survivor
National Voter Registration Day
On National Voter Registration Day, musicians, influencers, and talk show hosts asked fans to visit HeadCount.org to get registered. From Ellen to Seth Meyers to Jonathan Van Ness, Sheryl Crow and Amandala Stenberg, everyone was talking about the Midterms.
HeadCount’s Giphy Stickers and Instagram templates gave people quick and easy tools that they could use to spread the brand’s message: VOTE.
Results
1. #TheFutureIsVoting contributed to the largest midterm turnout in 104 years
2. HeadCount tripled their previous highs for election registrations
3. Provided over 500,000 Americans with voter information the week of the election
4. Reached 21 million people with $8 million in donated media
5. Press coverage by The Ellen Show, Jimmy Fallon, and Late Night Tonight with Seth Myers, Billboard, Fast Co,
The New York Times, Marie Claire, Refinery 29, Buzzfeed, People, and Today
6. Giphy "issue" stickers used 50M+ times
7. Featured in Kesha's "Here Comes the Change" music video
8. Invited to tour with Beyonce/JAY-Z's OTR II tour, the Drake/Migos co-bill, Vans Warped Tour, David Byrne, and the March for Our Lives bus tour