Every election season, it’s pretty much guaranteed that you’ll see campaign-themed buttons, bumper stickers, and of course, t-shirts. Sometimes, it’s not the candidates or political parties themselves that get the attention, but the democratic election process itself. To that end, Rock the Vote has been active nationally getting young American adults registered to vote since 1990. Its mission has not been to promote any particular candidate, party, or agenda, but to get young people involved in the democratic process, starting with getting them registered to vote.
The familiar Rock the Vote logo has gone through numerous iterations and evolutions over the years as it has adorned t-shirts, but this year it’s been taken to a whole new level and truly been updated for the 21st century. Although the new t-shirt certainly looks familiar, its power no longer lies in the logo itself.
Rock the Vote has partnered with Junk Food Clothing to embed their logo with a smartphone-compatible QR code. This isn’t the first specific use of this technology. Junk Food Clothing has added QR codes to other t-shirts, including one that allowed the scanner to make a donation to Meals on Wheels. For Rock the Vote, what does this code do, you ask? In this case, shirt’s QR code will take the user to a web page where they can watch videos, get more information, and yes, even register to vote.
