For 115 years, Red Wing has been dedicated to supporting the workers in America. But in 2020, the pandemic had left over 25M Americans unemployed. So on Labor Day, instead of taking a day off, we took on the highest unemployment rate in US history with the launch of #LaborDayOn.

The initiative was simple: instead of promoting Labor Day discounts on work-boots, we promoted every open position Red Wing had across our social channels, starting with an interactive film that featured real, clickable open jobs within Red Wing, turning a social post into a virtual job board that helped connect Americans to open positions nationwide.

But 25M out of work is a big number—so we called on other brands to join us in post any and all open positions they had, and created a series of unbranded, downloadable social posts that made it easy for brands big and small to do just that.

The #LaborDayOn initiative, which started with a humble Minnesota boot brand, resulted in a global response, with over 220 brands joining the movement —including Burger King, Vice, Refinery29, and New Balance. The campaign garnered over 829M total impressions, with 689M earned-media impressions across big-name media outlets like The NYT, USA Today, and Forbes. On social, Red Wing saw over 133M impressions as #LaborDayOn trended nationwide, gaining shout-outs from celebrities like Leah Remini and the governor of Minnesota.

#LaborDayOn could have been considered a success if just one person found a job, but with some participating brands reporting upwards of a 600 percent increase in applications for open jobs, the impact was seismic. With a single post, we set the Internet on fire, sparking a global movement that helped connect thousands to jobs.