Shinola launches gritty campaign celebrating American worker

By

Cassidy Mantor

Published
Mar 20, 2017

Detriot, Michigan-based Shinola has announced a new ad campaign called "Lets Roll Up Our Sleeves" that is designed to celebrate the company's manufacturing history along with the American worker.

Shinola makes handmade watches, bicycles, leather goods, journals, and turntables, with a heavy focus on quality manufacturing and modern design.

This newest campaign was born from how Shinola has embraced the American workforce and the brand's desire to lead by example.

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"We know that companies want to do more in America and, if we want to be competitive as a nation, we need to turn that 'want to' into a 'can do'," said Tom Kartsotis, Founder of Shinola.

As a Detroit-based company, Shinola found ease in paying tribute to American manufacturing through the campaign, having itself added 600 jobs since its launch in 2011.

Kartsotis continued, "Our plan is to continue to grow and strengthen our mission by rolling up our sleeves, empowering our teams and leading by example."

Individuals featured in the multi-channel print, digital, and social media campaign include various humanitarians and thought leaders whose organizations give back to the community and address social problems facing Detroit and America.

Examples of subjects photographed include the founder of an organization devoted to pediatric medicine and traumatic childhood stress, job services for homeless, and opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals to play an active role in helping grow their community's food supply as part of their rehabilitation.

As Kartsotis explained, "We hope this campaign inspires others to take on the challenges of creating enterprises in our country, building factories in our communities and investing in America's workforce"

The campaign launches March 20th in partnership with Forbes and Entrepreneur. It will appear in cities where Shinola has a large market presence including Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, and Detroit.