In the aftermath of the 2016 campaign, Democrats came to understand that a critical mistake was made when they let Trump corner the market on yard signs in swing states—it turns out it matters if all the signs in a neighborhood are for the other guy.

The mistake was not repeated in 2020, but the impact was muted because, predictably, the GOP decided to cheat by organizing raids to pull up as many Biden signs as possible. Towards the end of that campaign, as we became aware of what was going on, we began to develop stickers as a response; now we’re ready–and anxious–to deploy them and, with the help of a community of creators & canvassers, create and deploy a lot more than we have the bandwidth and creativity to do by ourselves.

The MAGAs certainly understand their potential, as evidenced by their own post-election activities, most notably in the case of the “I did that” stickers that appeared all over the nation’s gas pumps (and continue to do so), showing Biden pointing proudly at the then-current price of gasoline.  Can anyone doubt this effort, as uncoordinated as it was, helped turbocharge the usual blame game over gas prices, despite the media’s best efforts to make clear the real causes of the spike?

Beyond the anecdotal, as powerful as it might be, here are seven reasons why stickers are a better vehicle than signs, and five why they’re better than online memes (though unlike signs, they can be used for that purpose, too)

Stickers Vs Signs

• A yard sign typically costs $25 to make; stickers can be generated for pennies.
• Stickers are a lot more difficult to remove or steal than signs
• Stickers can be put in a lot more places, not just in yards or windows, and are therefore less likely to become just dismissible background noise
• Stickers can better make use of the context of the environment you place them to achieve more powerful effects
• Stickers can be used offline, online, and/or in hybrid campaigns
• In particular, they’re the best fit for the kind of multi-level, QR code-based messaging that has become increasingly mainstream and effective.
• Stickers are far superior for in-campaign, rapid response (local HQs can quickly & easily make hundreds themselves)

Stickers Vs Memes

• Putting up a sticker demonstrates a greater sense of commitment, passion, and courage than hiding behind a screen sharing “dank memes.”
• Stickers are much more material and persistent, much less ephemeral, and therefore more impactful. Think of them as the equivalent of a 24/7/365 demonstration (especially if your adhesive is good), more like Ukraine 2004 than the day-of selfie opportunities many postmodern American protests have become.
• Stickers convey local strength, local support for a position or cause, which has become vitally important in these polarized times when the threat of violence is palpable and continuously deployed by Trump and his core supporters.  In the current climate, people need to know others have their back, or they may not feel safe to act, to do the right thing.
• Conversely, a sticker-based show of force on our part can be used to demoralize our opponents.  A meme is highly unlikely to have the same effect.
• Putting up stickers can actually be safer and more anonymous than posting memes in some popular locations, i.e. the ones that require the use of real names (allegedly for “accountability,” in reality for marketing purposes), which can lead to doxing, swatting and worse.  A meme is more likely to find its way into unsafe online neighborhoods than you are to post a sticker publicly in one

Intrigued enough to want to know how to get and use them?  Click here!