Strategy September 29, 2020
Voter Merch Is in Fashion
Designers, celebrities and big brands are hoping to rock the vote with stylish apparel and accessories, with much of it benefitting election-related nonprofits.
The biggest fashion trend this fall might just be voter merch. As a highly contentious presidential election draws ever closer, it’s become in vogue to wear your intention to cast a ballot on your sleeve, around your neck, in your ears, on your knee-high boots – even across your face. And many of the items do more than just make a civic-minded statement. Proceeds from several collections fund various nonprofits, and some of the pieces even feature QR codes that actually direct customers to a voting registration site.
Former first lady Michelle Obama’s nonprofit, nonpartisan organization When We All Vote dropped an extensive merch collection in early September, including clothes, accessories and beauty and lifestyle products. Among the items in the first drop were sustainably made, gender-neutral tees, shorts and sweats from Megan Rapinoe’s line re-inc. The U.S. World Cup soccer star is a co-chair of When We All Vote.
T-shirts and other apparel from re-inc. were part of When We All Vote’s first merch drop.
All the products in the collection feature QR codes that direct consumers to a voting registration site, and proceeds are being split between the nonprofit and the brands it partnered with. A second merch drop is planned for October.
“Merch is one of many ways to give millennials and Gen Z-ers a reason to pay attention to voting,” Sarween Salih, brand strategy adviser of merchandise with the nonprofit, told Vogue. “The hope is that through the combination of other tactics and messaging – at TikTok, a Facebook ad, their friends talking about in the group chat – you are creating conversation and giving different people different entry points. Merch is just one ingredient in a larger recipe of engagement.”
Also, Freedom, a Los Angeles-based apparel brand, took the QR Code idea to the next level, embroidering an oversized code on its “vote tote.” The code links directly to vote.gov, and 5% of proceeds from sales are being donated to voter registration nonprofit I am a voter.
Also, Freedom was selling this embroidered vote tote, with a giant QR code that directs people to vote.gov.
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is selling statement apparel online through his More Than a Vote organization, which works to register poll workers, open voting centers and help those who are ineligible to vote pay fees to make them qualified. The merch, with a bold yellow and black color scheme, also makes bold statements like, “Change isn’t made by watching from the sidelines.”
This hat is available through LeBron James’ More Than a Vote organization. All proceeds from its merch store will go to the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, according to the website.
Top 40 distributor Kotis Design (asi/244898) worked with nonprofit Rock the Vote and the Minnesota Lynx to make vote-promoting face masks.
Proud to support great organizations like @RockTheVote and the @minnesotalynx with our Kotis masks. https://t.co/xxYzln5Dgi
— Kotis Design (@kotisdesign) September 9, 2020
Even dating sites are getting in on the action. OkCupid recently launched “VILF” merch to encourage voting “because there’s nothing sexier than exercising your rights to vote,” Melissa Hobley, OkCupid’s chief marketing officer told Fox News.
Celebrities including actresses Kerry Washington and Lily James have been posting selfies on Instagram to show off their best voting-related merch.
Here's a sampling of some other interesting voter-related merch being sold online.
Net profits from the limited-edition 5050 VOTE boot from Stuart Weitzman were donated to the nonprofit I am a voter.
50% of the proceeds from these VOTE earrings, sold by jewelry designer Maya Brenner, will go to organizations that amplify and support Black voices, according to the website.
Gap says it’s donating $25,000 each to When We All Vote and Rock the Vote. This tee is part of its Gap Collective series that celebrates activism. Designer Stephennie Factor is the artist credited for the shirt’s graphic.