In a time when the world is growing more fearful of immigrants, we wanted to remind America that it was built by immigrants—just like MINI. In partnership with the American Immigration Council, we worked with three first-generation and immigrant artists to tell their unique stories of adjusting to life in America. Our objective was to convince Americans that a car this British is as American as it gets—all within a $330K budget.

Each of our artists created a bespoke piece of art that was a visual representation of their immigrant experience. Their art was then placed across the country as billboards, made into vinyl wraps, and ultimately used to reinterpret the iconic MINI Union Jack rooftop.

Our message rolled out across social, print, and out-of-home, celebrating the inclusive spirit that is MINI. Rooftop presales increased by 457%, and proceeds went to benefit the American Immigration Council.

In today’s world, there are a lot of messages of fear, hate, and negativity surrounding the topic of immigrants and immigration. We wanted to remind people that this country was made by immigrants, just like MINI, and to put our brand message “We’re all different but better together” into action. We transformed the iconic MINI Union Jack rooftop into a literal canvas for our artwork and used it as our platform for spreading our message of positivity and inclusivity.

There are many ways to define “American car,” and MINI believes American cars reflect America: unique, diverse, searching, exuberant, patchwork. Our audience was open-minded people willing to engage with a provocative statement that prompts positive conversations about what “American” really means.

Our artists, Rich Tu, Shawna X, and Shane “Grif” Griffen, each created a bespoke piece of art that was a visual representation of their immigrant experience. Their artwork was then placed across the country as out-of-home billboards, made into vinyl wraps, and ultimately used to reinterpret the iconic MINI Union Jack rooftop. We also documented the experience with a behind-the-scenes film that was featured online, in an AdCouncil “PSA” to distribute via donated media, on the back cover of the New York Times, and on an e-commerce page to drive people to miniusa.com to buy custom rooftops.

Once the work rolled out across all mediums, rooftop presales increased by 457%, and proceeds went to benefit the American Immigration Council. The program was so successful that MINI France and Latin America markets have agreed to pick up the rooftops program and are currently planning out their own versions of this campaign.