Vans China Election

In 2009, Vans first entered the Chinese market in a big way, by planning to open a new store a day. The challenge was that the Chinese youth had heard of Vans but knew nothing about its independent, rebellious roots. To create awareness of its two iconic products, the Slip-on and the Era, we gave the Chinese youth something that wasn’t possible — a democratic election. We pitched the two shoes against each other as election candidates, each campaigned for online support with videos of their heritage.