As a 133-year-old brand, work-clothes maker Carhartt has learned to adapt to changing times. Now, as work has fundamentally changed, the brand is once again altering its message, saluting those who “Make it Happen.”
Launching this week, the new campaign looks to offer an optimistic outlook for today’s fast-paced world. Central to the effort is a 30-second commercial that follows two characters – a man and a woman – as they wake up and move through different workplaces. They begin on a construction site, move to a ranch, then through an urban garden, and ending up at a downtown mural. “If you love it, and you work for it, you’re going to make it,” says a voiceover as the spot concludes with the couple back in their bed. The tagline is “Making it happen since 1889.”
The new campaign is intended to build upon last year’s “Fit for the New Frontier” campaign that depicted more than 50 different types of tradespeople for the modern workplace, including a solar panel technician, a farmer, an arborist, and more. The “Make It Happen” effort is designed to depict the evolution of the brand’s styles that are lighter-weight, flexible and appropriate for more purposes.
“We’ve been seeing that not only is the future of work changing – which plays a major role in how we’re designing our gear – but so is what people are wearing our gear for,” said Brian Bennett, vice president of creative and executive producer at Carhartt. “While our brand is born from work, we realize that the versatility and quality of our products allow room for Carhartt to show up nearly anywhere that there’s a job to be done, whether that’s at a traditional job site, hiking in the great outdoors or dropping the kids off at school.”
The campaign will run on Carhartt’s website and connected and streaming TV, including the premiere of the Paramount+ series (and “Yellowstone” prequel, “1923.” The brand will also have a heavy TikTok presence. “It’s no secret that TikTok is one of the most popular social media platforms right now – especially for Gen Z and younger millennial audiences,” said Brendan Lokes, brand media manager at Carhartt. “What’s exciting for us is that this audience is highly active and engaged with Carhartt already, with user-generated content mentioning the brand generating over 1 billion views on TikTok to-date. It’s a platform where we’re able to authentically connect with the next generation of hardworking people, on their terms.”
