Wounded Warrior Project Celebrates Veterans Day (11/11) By Giving 11 Veterans 11 Skateboards to Express Their Mental Health Journey Through Art.

While veterans comprised 18% of the U.S. population in 1980, today they represent only 6%, and with that decline, comes a decrease in support for veterans. For Gen Z, the empathy gap is even larger because they didn't witness 9/11.

To help bridge the empathy gap, we found a topic matters to both audiences: mental health. While it can be hard for anyone to describe their mental health journey, it can be especially hard for Veterans. That’s why we asked Veterans to use art to tell their story. We then printed these pieces on a unique medium that has had a resurgence with Gen Z: skateboards. An enter-to-win sweeps will begin 11/25/2024 to score one of these limited edition boards. You can choose to mount the piece on your wall or throw some trucks on it and drop in.
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CD AD: Me | CD CW: Nate Totten | Head of Creative: Josh Paialii | Designers: Mia Bawale & Jay Hurst | Producers: Beth Lyden & Adam McGinnes | Account: Kate DeMallie

The Launch

To kick off Warriors on Board on Veterans Day, we sat down with pro-skateboarder Ryan Sheckler and U.S. Army Veteran Harley Meagley to talk about the importance of mental health both on and off the board. Harley introduces us to Warriors on Board and the value it brough to him personally.
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CD AD: Me | CD CW: Nate Totten | Head of Creative: Josh Paialii | Designer: Mia Bawale | Producers: Beth Lyden & Adam McGinnes | Editor: Tom Carter

The Veteran Stories

We met with 5 of the 11 Veteran Artists to talk in depth about how art helped them heal.
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CD AD: Me | CD CW: Nate Totten | Head of Creative: Josh Paialii | Designer: Mia Bawale | Producers: Beth Lyden & Adam McGinnes | Editor: Tom Carter

The Website

We built a website to house all 11 Veteran stories and their skateboard art. Site visitors can enter to win a skateboard starting 11/25.
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CD AD: Me | CD CW: Nate Totten | UX/UI Designer: Jay Hurst | Account: Kate DeMallie | WebDev Vendor: 14Four

The Campaign Branding

Because mental health often leaves us feeling in distress, this art direction combines that emotion with the hand curated, layered collages that skateboard mags leaned into in the 90’s. While red, white and blue are often the colors associated with Veterans, we chose a palette that appealed to broader audiences to invite them into the conversation.
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CD AD: Me | CD CW: Nate Totten | Designer: Mia Bawale

 Thank You.

To the Veterans who opened their hearts and homes to let us share their stories, thank you for your bravery and grace.
Please go to Wounded Warrior Project to learn more about Veteran programs and how you can support today.

This campaign is ongoing and will have more rolling out over the next month.