Yakima Racks to Presidential Candidates: "We Want Three Day Weekend"

Taking advantage of an energetic political environment, Yakima, a leading vehicle rack innovator in the outdoor industry, today is appealing to presidential candidates and business leaders with “Make Monday the New Sunday,” a national marketing campaign, created by Yakima’s agency of record, Stick and Move of Philadelphia, advocating for a three-day weekend and a four-day work week. Centered around Yakima’s revamped website, www.yakima.com, the campaign invites outdoor enthusiasts looking for more time to play outside, to “join the movement” via the homepage. Here consumers can print protest signs and the “boss convincer”, a tongue-in-cheek research document by the “Department of Fabricated Information Statistics and Fabricated Facts”, to convince their bosses to extend the weekend and shorten the work week. Consumers also have the option to create their own campaign buttons. Print ads, which will begin to appear next week, will be seen in Backpacker, Bicycling, Bike, Canoe and Kayak, Mountain Bike, National Geographic Adventure and Paddler magazines.

“Given that this is a huge election year and the current candidates have yet to address the important issue of ‘more time off’, we wanted to develop a fun, engaging call to action for outdoor consumers to get the ball rolling,” said Mike Steck, senior director of marketing for Yakima. “The most important goal for Yakima is to deliver a message that gets people into the outdoors. In addition, we want to remind outdoor enthusiasts that the folks at Yakima understand what’s important: getting outdoors beats working, any day.”

Print advertisements feature headlines including, “Let’s Make Mondays Suck 20% Less”, “Let’s Turn the Land of the Free into the Land of More Freakin’ Free Time”, “The Only Person Who Thinks Two Days Off Per Week is Enough is ‘The Man’ ” and “There’s Something to be Said About Less Disgruntled Employees and More Gruntled Ones”.

The printable campaign button designs include cheeky slogans such as, “Life, Liberty and Every Monday Off”, “Make Monday the New Sunday”, and “Yak ’08: Because Two Day Weekends Just Don’t Cut it Anymore.”

In addition to the campaign feature on the Yakima website, additional enhancements have been made to improve the overall rack experience. Category specific landing pages aid users in navigating various transportation options (e.g. hitch, top of car, trunk) along with associated products (e.g. bike, boat, and cargo). A new product fit widget, housed on each product page, enables the user to better evaluate vehicle fits leading to more efficient transactions. The improved product pages feature new accessory options and additional product photos.

“Simplifying the user experience makes for a ‘sweet and easy’ process of getting into the outdoors,” continued Steck. “We want our customers to have a fun and stress-free rack purchasing experience, making their time in the outdoors that much more enjoyable.”

About Yakima
Yakima is a world leader in the design and manufacture of destination hardware and gear management solutions. Yakima’s products include: vehicle racks for bikes, boats, ski equipment and gear; a line of cargo boxes and bags for a variety of needs; and Ground Control, an integrated gear management system for the home. Yakima Products is headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon. For more information, visit www.yakima.com.

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