Trayvon Martin, an unarmed teen was shot and killed while wearing a dark hoodie because he ‘looked suspicious’. No charges were filed against his shooter, and the national media failed to cover the story for over three weeks. People everywhere were frustrated, saddened and outraged. Creating the hashtag #MillionHoodies, people were asked to create awareness by uploading photos wearing hoodies, sign the Change.org petition and take to the streets on March 21st, 2012. Over 300,000 photos poured in from around the world, over 2 million people signed the petition, and over 40,000 peaceful protesters rallied in over a dozen cities nationwide—all in less than 48 hours. Within a week, the Trayvon Martin story went from a local news item to garnering almost one fifth of total national news coverage—the only story in 2012 to receive more news coverage than the U.S. Presidential election.

It started with a blog post and YouTube video. As strategists, we knew it had to be bigger. We had to come up with the big idea – the creative hook that tapped into and crystallised the collective sentiment, and gave people a rallying cry. We landed on a strategic idea of linking "A million hoodies" to "A million signatures" on the Martin family’s Change.org petition. We created a Facebook Event and Fan Page for the Million Hoodie March. Using the hashtag #MillionHoodies, we asked people to upload their photos of themselves in hoodies. This viral element started trending on Twitter almost immediately. As photos poured in from all over the world, we created an iconic poster to unify the message and built a website to aggregate photos from Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Finally, we launched a community-organising platform to sustain the momentum and empower protesters throughout the country.

Consumer Results:- Trayvon Martin petition becomes "the fastest growing petition in the history of the Internet” (ABC News). 2m+ signatures collected- 300,000+ photos uploaded using the hashtag #MillionHoodies- 5,000+ people attend NYC rally; sparks national dialogue- 40,000+ people attend Million Hoodie rallies nationwide- 600,000+ web hits for 'Million Hoodies March'- 3,000+ online media mentions of 'Million Hoodies March'Client Results:- Under mounting public pressure, George Zimmerman is arrested (4/11)- Barack Obama speaks out on Trayvon Martin case 2 days after Hoodie March- U.N. Commissioner Calls for Probe of Trayvon Martin Killing- Congressman Bobby Rush wears hoodie in US House of Representatives- The Martin family receives 400+ media requests on day of Hoodie March- Sanford police chief steps down after a City Council vote of no-confidence- Roughly 50 schools in Florida stage walkout protests after Hoodie March