A Post-Mortem On The Vote or Die Campaign | Design is within the fibers.
“Vote or Die”, 2004, “presidential elections”, “Sean puffy combs”, “George W. Bush”, “young voters”, “youth vote”, “John Kerry”, “political organizing”, mobilization, “South Park”, politicos, “professional jealousy”, “Obama logo”, GOTV, “get out the vote”, “poster design”, “Colin Kaepernick”
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A Post-Mortem On The Vote or Die Campaign

08

Nov

A Post-Mortem On The Vote or Die Campaign

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This Election Day, I will be examining the body of the Vote or Die Campaign. Cause of death: Mass political mockery.

During the presidential election of 2004, Sean “Puffy” Combs banded together with other entertainment celebrities for the Vote or Die Campaign. It was aimed at getting young people, particularly young people of color, out to the polls.

The stakes were really high that year. Incumbent George W. Bush was leading in the polls, and Sen. John Kerry was, while very qualified on paper, really failed to inspire and mobilize young voters.

The Vote or Die Campaign was widely mocked. Seen as a cynical cash grab and revenue stream for t-shirts, a misguided attempt at political mobilization, and quite simply the right message coming from the wrong person.

Video Clip: South Park –Vote or Die 

But I believe the backlash was a little political jealousy, coming from traditional politicos who often think feckless young people don’t vote. Yet year after year, youth turnout increases, especially in 2004. Elitism came from people who conflated a person’s persona with their political aspirations. Puffy has never threatened to put a knife in anyone’s throat. He may have thrown a bottle. But he did want you to care about voting.

In terms of branding and marketing the Vote or Die Campaign was brilliant. The strong patriotic type-driven campaign slogan, exclamation marks, and use of the word “die” (your voice would metaphorically die if you don’t vote) created a sense of urgency that voting requires. And what was most consistent was who campaigned: Men and women of color. While everyone was rich and famous, Ellen Degeneres, Paris Hilton are still women. Naomi, Mariah, Mary, black women. Pharrell, Puffy, 50 Cent, black men. That matters.

220_2005-1-vote-or-die

The Vote or Die Campaign was prescient. It would lead to presidential candidates like Sen. Barack Obama to reach out to branding firms like Sender LLC to create the now-iconic Obama logo — a first for any presidential candidate. Now we have the Get Out The Vote Campaign and poster design project that even yours truly participated in.

Part of being in a capitalist society with a free and open democracy means a media mogul may become a monstrous demagogue. But it also means several other media moguls may use their platforms to make a positive difference. It’s just sad that we couldn’t see that. Maybe because we assumed their wealth buys them out of racism, sexism, homophobia, and voter apathy.

Trust, it does not.

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