Make the Midterms Matter

Make the
Midterms Matter

Role
Creative Direction
Art Direction
Design

Year
2018

Make it Personal

The 2018 midterms were the first election where millennials would be the largest voting bloc. Historically, turnout among young voters trailed every other cohort. Most get-out-and-vote campaigns gave them no real reason to show up. They were designed to perform civic duty, not to connect with what people actually cared about.

54% of 18-49 year-old adults are driven to the polls by a single issue. That insight became the foundation. Rather than tell people to vote, we asked them why they would.

Stripped of Context

Twenty four politically charged objects were painted white. A handgun. A white picket fence. A surveillance camera. Reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights, incarceration, policing, wages, healthcare, sustainability. Each one stripped of color and context.

By removing the politics from the imagery, the audience could bring their own meaning. The objects became prompts, not statements. They worked individually and as a collection, visually striking enough that people wanted to engage with them and share them.

Tell Us Why You're Voting

Most get-out-and-vote campaigns talk at people. Instead, we asked them why they were voting.

At the center of the campaign was a UGC site. TV spots and social posts directed audiences to a VICE-branded voicemail line. Thousands of people called in to share why they were voting. Those voicemails became the next round of ads, which pointed audiences to the VICE Impact microsite, where people could choose the issue they cared about, record their own message, listen to others, and see the growing map of where the voices were coming from. Favorites could be liked. Every voice that came in created the asset that pulled the next one in.

Through a partnership with the non-profit I Am a Voter, the campaign extended into the world. Registration events. The VICELAND bus at music festivals. Merchandise in the hands of celebrities. Presence across talk shows and social. The campaign extended into VICE.com editorial, with daily coverage of people taking action in their own communities.

It Can Wait

On National Voter Registration Day, VICE shut down its own platforms. TV, digital, social. A single message replaced the programming: it can wait, register to vote.

The line said one thing. The act said the opposite. It could wait. Voting could not. The shutdown made the point the line was too quiet to make alone.

At the expense of our own viewership, we shut down our channels. The shutdown generated its own earned media attention and added to the conversation it had been building.

Results

2% of all voter registration.
17.5 million impressions across platforms.
The largest midterm turnout since 1914.

After the Polls Closed

When the US polls closed, messages arrived from people outside the country wanting to participate. The concept expanded globally through VICE's international network, this time framed not around an election but around culture itself. A traveling art exhibition showcased the imagery and voicemails collected throughout.