Take the Mic
After School Matters is a local organization that provides programming for Chicago's youth, and they wanted to promote advertising as a viable, creative career path.
This campaign is built on the belief that the greatest minds are not yet in advertising. They're in public schools across the city, scribbling poetry into the margins of their notebooks, painting masterpieces in alleyways, taking whatever small space they've been given and turning it into something beautiful. What makes these kids valuable to the ad industry is exactly what makes them valuable as human beings: their refusal to conform to our idea of who they should be.
It's time to give them the space and resources to be the innovative and creative leaders they've always been.
It's time to let the kids of Chicago take the mic.
Social
Out-Of-Home
Experiential
With every mic, there needs to be a stage. The John Hancock building, a Chicago landmark, has always been untouchable for most of Chicago's population. To show these kids that their voices are valued, we'll project their original words and thoughts onto the side of the building. The installation will run for 646 minutes to represent the 646 Chicago Public Schools. This will let the kids experience, on a larger scale, what it means to take the mic.