The main communication objective was to raise the poll numbers to win back the people. The client The Social Democrats asked for a strategy and a creative solution to present their platform, their political values and standing points.

The summer before the 2018 elections, the Swedish polls showed that the sitting party, The Social Democrats, were losing. Everyone regardless of their place in the Swedish society enjoy hot dogs any time of the year, after parties, after clubbing, at work conferences, in the sauna, while hiking. The hot dog is the most common food for the Swedish people.

The “The Hot Dog” political commercial features the Swedish Prime Minister, the leader of The Democratic Party, Stefan Löfven doing the most commonplace activity for Swedes and that is eating hot dogs. In the commercial, when the street vendor asks the Prime Minister, ”What would you’d like?” the democratic leader launches into his political platform and takes the viewer on a journey throughout today’s Sweden. And of course, he wants a hot dog.

We realized that despite party setbacks, the Swedish Prime minister was still very popular. So giving him a leading role was a no brainer, but putting a hot dog in his hand was far from obvious. We had a hunch that publicity would be strong but never imagined how strong.

We gave him a way to present the party political agenda that all people could relate to. All activities were target to reach potential voters and also internally give the party a tool in the campaign work. Both film, outdoor and events were created around the same idea.

“The Hot Dog” struck a chord with the Swedish people. It went viral after the first broadcast. National television’s political news show upheld the commercial as the best political commercials of all time. The commercial was acknowledged in the REED Awards for political campaigns as the best International and European ad of the year. Oh yes, the spot will go down in history as the hot dog that won an election.