Freedom To Marry Colorado
Protecting marriage equality, no matter what happens at the Supreme Court
The Challenge
An unprecedented threat to marriage equality posed by the U.S. Supreme Court, an electorate that believed the freedom to marry was already secure, a crowded ballot, and a limited budget for an impactful ad campaign. The challenge here wasn’t that Colorado voters didn't support marriage equality – it was that they thought it was secured already. We needed to thread a needle with our ads by crafting compelling stories that conveyed urgency, motivated voters to act, and stood out in a crowded electoral environment.
The Strategy
Our primary ad featured Amber and Heather, a Denver-area couple who had been together for more than a decade. The goal was to share their love story the way any other couple would share it – from how they met to how they proposed to how they grew their family by adopting their son. But we knew that just one couple couldn’t tell the story of the LGBTQ+ community in Colorado, so we created a second video for social, featuring couples of different ages, backgrounds, and gender identities to emphasize that voting for Amendment J meant protecting the people we love.
The Outcome
Amendment J passed with 64.33% of the vote – a larger margin of victory than a similar ballot measure in California. Now, Colorado’s Constitution protects the freedom for all Coloradans to marry the person they love, no matter what happens at the Supreme Court.
64.33%
Amendment J passed with 64.33% of the vote, removing Colorado’s ban on same-sex marriage, and protecting the freedom to marry for all Coloradans – no matter what happens at the Supreme Court.
93%
Our ads reached nearly 3 million people, which is equivalent to roughly 93% of the total votes cast in the 2024 Colorado election.
600,00+
We knew this campaign would only be successful if we could reach the community directly affected by it. We served more than 600,000 impressions on queer dating apps meant to reach this exact audience.
Free to marry the person we love.
To win this race, it was critical for non-LGBTQ+ voters to be reminded that marriage equality impacts the couples they know and love. Our “Couples Like Us” spot did just that. Featuring couples of different generations, backgrounds, and gender identities, this spot helped raise the stakes and communicate why voting ‘Yes’ on Amendment J was essential.
Design rooted in joy.
Instead of wasting valuable seconds in our ads talking about the potential threat of Trump’s Supreme Court, we focused on the joy and optimism of marriage equality. This allowed our ad creative to stand out in an increasingly partisan and negative political environment, especially during the 2024 presidential election.
Reaching people where they are
One of the biggest challenges in this race was that people thought the freedom to marry was settled, including younger LGBTQ+ people. In the final weeks of the election, we worked to communicate directly with those who would be most impacted by placing ads on queer dating apps Grindr and HER.
“Empirical Media is rigorous and thoughtful in every aspect of their process, from scripting and filming ads to executing cross-platform media buys that cut through the noise. They are tremendous partners to have at the table for winning ballot measure campaigns.”
— Susy Bates, Campaign Director