THE UNFINISHED VOTES

About the Work Who will fight for gun safety harder than those killed by guns? Gun violence kills 40,000 people in the US every year. That’s thousands of lost votes that could help elect gun-sense politicians. In 2018, Joaquin Oliver was killed in a horrific mass shooting in Parkland, Florida. This year would have been the first year he could have voted. Working with his parents and revolutionary AI technology, we brought Joaquin back to life digitally to deliver a message to all those who haven’t registered to vote yet. The film showed Joaquin pleading for viewers to vote for him because he can’t vote himself. It drove viewers to unfinishedvotes.com where people could replace his vote and those of other gun violence victims. The site adapted dynamically, so when people pledged their vote for a victim the entire site experience and social content became personalized per that victim’s story. You could even upload your own lost loved one to the site. The results were incredible: Over 2.4 million views in 24 hours of launch. Global broadcast news coverage. #1 trending topic on Fox News. And over 1,290 pro gun-sense politicians elected in 2020. We even received a personal message from President Joe Biden. Most importantly, on the 3rd anniversary of the Parkland Shooting, President Biden announced in Congress that he is demanding commonsense gun law reforms, including requiring background checks on all gun sales, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and eliminating immunity for gun manufacturers who knowingly put weapons of war on American streets.