Retire the Penny: Social Awareness Campaign
This social awareness campaign promotes the organization Retire the Penny, which fights for the discontinuation of the US one cent coin.
Problems
- The penny overall costs twice as much money to produce than it’s worth, with congress wasting $85 mil. of taxpayers' money annually.
- Pennies are primarily made of zinc, the mining of which is harmful to the environment.
- Americans feel a nostalgic attachment to the penny.
- Americans are worried of price increases if penny is discontinued.
Solution
We’re proving there are no upsides to keeping the American penny in circulation. By partnering with Retire The Penny, an existing coalition proposing a bill to discontinue the penny, we bring awareness to all the economic and environmental issues that it causes. Sign our petition to urge congress to follow the lead of dozens of countries around the world and stop the production and circulation of the one-cent coin.
Creative Strategy
The penny is past its prime
Using ornate typography, hand-drawn illustrations and a desaturated American color palette, this campaign visually expresses how outdated the penny is. Vintage textures and elements emphasize the irrelevance of the penny while also catching the eye of an older audience who might still have a nostalgic attachment to the penny.

What I Did
-  Brand Identity
-  Creative Strategy
-  Copywriting
-  Advertising
-  Web Design
-  Illustration

Find a Penny Pick it Up
This guerilla campaign takes to the streets — literally. Pennies are so useless we’re accustomed to seeing them on the ground, yet the one positive connotation we have left with the penny is luck. Using these two ideas, this campaign scatters different shocking facts you may not know about pennies around town, with the once constant theme that money that has to ask to be picked up isn't real money.
Reaching the Youth
This campaign speaks to a younger audience through social media, painting the US Government as an idiot wasting money. It carries the overall concept of the "outdated penny" using classic memes that don't require knowledge of current trends to understand.
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