Commentary

Crispin Porter + Bogusky's Soapbox Video Star

by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer, August 21, 2013

Ad executive Alex Bogusky began a crusade to bring manufacturing back to the United States using data, video, and social media.

He created a video for the Made in America Movement asking consumers to purchase one additional American-made item for every 20 products they buy, and uploaded it to YouTube. He believes the act would reverse the flow of jobs overseas, resulting in 1 million new jobs for Americans. "If each of us spends 5% more for things made in America, economists say we will create a minimum of 1 million new jobs for American," he explains in the video. Here's a list of goods made in the U.S.A.

How many pairs of pants and shirts made in America do you have hanging in your closet? Hear him out. He's got economic data and social media to spread the word. The mantra taping into social media: Share the project with two friends. "If everyone shares the video with two people within a day of seeing it, in one month it will have been seen pretty much by every single person in the country," he said.

Bogusky became passionate about U.S. manufacturing through the Made Movement that sponsored the Million Jobs Project video. It's a marketing agency devoted to American brands started by some of Bogusky's former colleagues at ad and design agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky.

big data, data management

3 comments about "Crispin Porter + Bogusky's Soapbox Video Star".

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Leslie Singer from SingerSalt, August 21, 2013 at 11:18 a.m.
BRAVO!!!!!! Too bad we can't get our politicians to include more incentives to keep jobs and manufacturing here. As usual - it will be up to Americans, not our politicians, to create change and this is a tremendous effort and first step. Imagine all the empty factories alive again. Imagine the small towns all across the country filling up with life. Imagine the working class actually working. Thank you Bogusky! I'm going into my closet now to start counting.
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William Buckley from FarePlay, August 21, 2013 at 11:36 a.m.

As a pro-artist digital activist, let me add the obvious. As a country, we are known around the globe for our films and our music. As a country, we have lost hundreds of thousands of jobs and hundreds of billions of dollars in earnings to online piracy.

Piracy is a global problem and the US is the worst abuser of the unauthorized downloading of other people's work without their permission. What makes this even worse is that piracy is a for-profit criminal enterprise that profits from selling advertising based on the high traffic that these sites get from ripping off artists.

If you are serious about supporting "Made in America" you need to include artists and their work in your message.

Paula Lynn from Who Else Unlimited, August 21, 2013 at 3:24 p.m.

Easier said than done. How much more are Americans willing to pay to pay salaries of workers more than $2 an hour or less, let alone a living wage ? All the rest are details, major but details.