In the U.S., midterm elections are used to elect the Congress. Many Americans consider it a less important election, even though the Congress has the power to counterbalance the President. The 2014 midterm election saw the lowest voter turnout in 75 years.

Mindful of the divide within the country, we were careful to not take sides and portray voting as a beautiful opportunity for everybody. And we needed a song from a musician that could rise above the division and unite everyone to care about their freedom to vote. Aretha became a clear choice as someone who has gone from a performer to an activist to a beloved household name. Someone who could rile you up, entertain, and bring people together to care about their freedom.

Celebrating the freedom of self-expression is at the core of the Levi’s brand, and there is no better way to protect your freedom than by voting. And as a classic American brand, Levi’s wanted to play a role in making voting cool, especially to young voters.

We knew that prodding and pleading people to vote wouldn’t get people to show up on election day. Instead we had to make voting look like an inspiring, empowering act that everyone, all over the world, takes seriously. And Aretha’s “Freedom” was a powerful and entertaining rallying cry to celebrate voting in true Levi’s fashion.

Aretha’s lyrics of proclaiming FREEDOM! are paired with visuals that show the ultimate democratic right—a right people are still fighting for today, like the Saudi Arabian woman in the spot who might be voting for the first time.

Levi’s is a unique brand in that it’s truly worn by everyone, from liberal Brooklyn hipsters to conservative Kansas farmers, and every race, gender, and creed in between.

But the U.S. is more divided than ever, so we wanted to make our film a non-partisan celebration that would inspire every American to vote. Instead of focusing on particular issues, we chose to rise above venomous politics and portray voting, not as a chore, but a beautiful opportunity.

We wanted a song that would immediately stick out to people whether they come across the film on TV or online. And Aretha’s voice does just that. As a song that pretty much every American knows and has a personal connection to, it became an effective way to grab the attention of the viewer.

We launched the campaign on September 24th, 2018 and it ran for six week leading up to election day. The purposefully short media spend was used to create urgency. The film ran on TV, digital, and social across to appeal to the multi-media consuming youth target.

With a concentrated media spend just leading up to the election, the campaign garnered 79.9MM social impressions. It’s YouTube Masthead Takeover received 363MM impressions. The total paid media impressions were 763.6MM. The film attained an 86% reach which is 26% higher than projected. Levi’s attributes this film to helping them reach a rate of growth they haven’t experienced in over 25 years. And while we obviously weren’t the sole cause, we like to think we played a small part in contributing to the highest midterm voter turnout in over 100 years, where some cities saw a 500% increase in the youth vote.