CITY OF CHICAGO | Boards of Change | 2020
How to turn anger and hope into democracy / City of Chicago "Boards of Change"
In 2020, the plywood covering Chicago's streets was reborn as voting booths. The same boards used to cover broken windows became boxes that deliver votes. That shift alone makes this a powerful idea.
The problem
During the BLM protests, Chicago stores boarded up window after window with plywood, fearing looting. Artists painted anger and hope onto those boards, turning them into a landscape that symbolized the protests. Meanwhile, Chicago's census response rate was 55%, below the national average of 62%, and the city needed to get people moving on voting too.
The insight
Instead of seeing the plywood covering the city as something broken, see it as material carrying people's voices. FCB Chicago and the city teamed up with artists and local organizations to collect this plywood and rebuild it directly into voting booths. The idea was to not clean up the anger, but to carry it straight into the next action.
The idea
The plywood booths had QR codes attached, so people could scan them and register to vote on the spot. The system was built in partnership with When We All Vote, the nonprofit founded by Michelle Obama, and people could also look up voting deadlines and how to vote by mail from there. The booths were set up one by one, chosen specifically for areas with low voter turnout.
What happened
Rolled out as the second phase following the census campaign, it won Grand Prix in both the Media and PR categories at Cannes Lions 2021, was selected for Titanium, and also won Grand Prix in the Glass category. In the neighborhoods where plywood became polling stations, voter registration and turnout reached record numbers.
Afterthought
Turning broken boards, anger and all, directly into polling stations. It really comes down to the speed and power of this idea. It shows us, all the way through to the results, the moment when advertising becomes a doorway into democracy. I'd love to do work like this myself someday.
Awards
- Cannes Lions Grand Prix 2020
