Under Armour has launched ‘Run To Vote’: its first-ever election-related program which aims to increase voter turnout and to remove some of the barriers which keep Americans from participating in and making an impact in the country’s democracy.
The primary objective is make voting less of a struggle for its US employees and the communities in which they live and secondarily for customers and the sportswear brand’s wider diaspora.
The initiative gives employees, stakeholders and teammates three hours of paid time off to enable them to vote in person or by mail and has been developed in partnership with Vote.org: a non-profit which provides Americans with all the relevant information needed to vote.
Rolled out during the final week of September, just over a month ahead of the 3 November US election, the campaign is hubbed around a bespoke website which provides links for voter registration, a registration check tool and absentee ballot requests.
The projected is fronted by Under Armour president and CEO Patrik Frisk and a group of the brand’s athlete ambassadors including NBA MVP Steph Curry and US Soccer Star Kelly O’Hara who are promoting the project across their own social channels.
For Under Armour boss Frisk, who was born in Sweden, this election is the first time he has voted in the US since becoming a citizen and it was his experience understanding and navigating around the complexities of the US political system which prompted him to develop an initiative to make voting easier.
I voted in my first U.S. election recently. It was far harder than expected and helped me to understand what had at first shocked me – just over 50% of those eligible to vote in the U.S. actually vote. More on my experience:#NationalVoterRegistrationDayhttps://t.co/AtVGxAvc94
— Patrik Frisk (@PatrikFrisk) September 22, 2020
The company’s PR statement from Frisk accompanying the project’s launch stated: “This Election Season, We Want to Help You Get Prepared and Race to the Polls. At Under Armour, we make a simple promise: to make you better. This commitment isn’t just to our athletes but also extends to our community. We know democracy is the ultimate team sport, but too many are blocked from playing. Our Run to Vote initiative will ensure we can work with our partners to educate, mobilize, and empower Americans so we can all make an impact on our democracy. We are working to increase voter turnout by putting as many voters on the playing field as we can. Check out the resources below, then get registered and go vote. Let’s all make an impact this election season. We are here to empower those who strive for more. I want to make sure people are provided every opportunity to have their opinion heard and exercise it in an informed way. It’s as simple as that.”
As well as the promotional content, Under Armour has partnered with community groups to raise awareness of the importance of voting among the public and has also launched a running challenge, via MapMyRun, in October of 11.3 miles (a distance chosen as it represents the 3 November (3/11) Election Day date.
The creative assets seek to drive viewers to the full ‘Run to Vote’ page to find the full set of voting at https://about.underarmour.com/runtovote.
Comment:
The company and previous founder and CEO Kevin Plank were caught up in something of a political maelstrom around the last election and so Under Armour will be hoping that the usefulness and independent nature of this project will ensure they avoid criticism this time around.
Like Curry, many NBA players and other US sports stars have been highly active leading up to the election.
Curry’s teammate Draymond Green has joined LeBron James’ ‘More Than A Vote’ (https://www.morethanavote.org/) initiative, while his coach Steve Kerr has volunteered at a virtual phone bank with the Biden campaign.
Indeed, in November, the Golden State Warriors will open their facilities in the Bay Area as Election Day polling sites.
Other sports and outdoor wear companies are also getting involved in the 2020 election: the most direct of which is climbing brand Patagonia’s election-related clothing labels which currently read ‘Vote The Assholes Out’.
Patagonia spokeswoman confirmed that its "Vote the assholes out" tags are real https://t.co/axt8naUk9V
— Ad Age (@adage) September 16, 2020
Links:
Under Armour
https://about.underarmour.com/runtovote
https://www.youtube.com/user/underarmour
https://twitter.com/UnderArmour
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