Fight For The Future, working with the Ford Foundation, had already launched a social-driven campaign to encourage people to vote. So when they wanted to counter their Vote With Friends campaign with some way to shame non-voters, they came to us.

When a client asks you to call people out on their bullshit, it’s hard to say no. Such was the case with Your Excuse Sucks. Fight For The Future said they wanted a social media campaign to shame non-voters in a funny, lighthearted way. The rest they really left to us.

First we needed to identify the target. To us, the most illogical and offensive elements of not voting are the excuses people make for why they don’t vote. So we compiled a list of the most common excuses, assembled a team of writers, and got to work cutting them down one tweetable bit of text at a time.

The day before the 2012 election, we launched our all-out offensive, bombarding Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and prepackaging content in ways that made it easy for people and press to share. We wanted the video component to evoke a sense of voices chiming in from around the country, so it wasn’t just us making fun of non-voters, it was everybody making fun of non-voters.

The hashtag #YourExcuseSucks took off in a way we couldn’t have predicted, becoming the banner for stories of people overcoming remarkable adversity to cast their ballot. Women going into labor or men suffering heart attacks in line — the people who had legitimate excuses not to vote but were voting anyway became stronger evidence that Your Excuse Sucks than any put down we could ever pen.

I had to contest an unduly rejected voter registration, so I got a judge to issue a court order so I could vote! #yourexcusesucks

— erin judge (@erinjudge) November 6, 2012

AWESOME: How astronauts vote from space http://t.co/FqEVD7yO #YourExcuseSucks — Damien (@db) November 7, 2012

Two hours in the cold, had to get a provisional ballot, but I made it! #yourexcusesucks pic.twitter.com/180yIsJT — janeruffino (@janeruffino) November 7, 2012

A pregnant Illinois woman voted today while IN LABOR. What’s your excuse? http://t.co/r8boqztW #yourexcusesucks

— Michael Collado (@michaelcollado) November 6, 2012

This man almost died in the voting line. His first words after being resuscitated: “Did I vote?” http://t.co/2JyTXivB #YourExcuseSucks

— Kimberly Muñoz (@kimberlymunoz) November 6, 2012

#YourExcuseSucks Woman breaks leg in parking lot, husband carries her to vote before going to hospital. http://t.co/SXrXPm4I #ElectionDay

— Kristen (@Kpengell) November 6, 2012

My 96 year-old Aunt Lil, who fractured her hip in August, waiting on hours-long line to vote. #YourExcuseSucks http://t.co/6x2NW6wu

— Richard Robbins (@rich1) November 6, 2012

#Ivoted and waited 2 hours to do it http://t.co/vmzfRQnd

— Ben Matusow (@benmatusow) November 6, 2012