# Johnsonville put sausage on Wisconsin ballot to dodge $10B election ad crush *The 150-year-old brand used referendum mechanics to earn media when CPMs spiked 300% during peak political season.* By **Jenny Huang Goodman MPA MSc MHSA, Principal** — The Stash Edge, Hako Shikin LLC. Published 2026-09-10. Canonical: https://www.pops4.com/stash/articles/johnsonville-2026-09-10t21-2 Subject: Johnsonville Tags: earned media, ballot marketing, election stunt, civic infrastructure, cpm arbitrage, local news --- Johnsonville placed a literal ballot measure in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, asking voters to declare sausage the official state food during the 2024 election cycle, according to Marketing Dive. The stunt ran when national political advertising spending topped **$10 billion** and pushed consumer-goods CPMs to unaffordable levels for regional food brands. The mechanics were straightforward. Johnsonville worked with county clerks to file a non-binding advisory referendum question on the November ballot. Voters in the brand's home county saw the sausage question alongside races for president, senate, and state legislature. The move cost a filing fee and local coordination time, not the seven-figure media buys required to break through traditional advertising during the same window. It worked because ballot placement is inherently newsworthy and geographically sticky. Local television stations, newspapers, and digital outlets covered the measure as a human-interest counterpoint to heavy political coverage. The brand earned broadcast segments, social shares, and search traffic without buying airtime. The second mechanism: ballot measures carry implied civic legitimacy. Seeing sausage on the same paper as elected offices creates a category elevation that a roadside billboard cannot. Voters photograph unusual ballot items and share them organically, extending reach beyond paid distribution. The third advantage is timing precision. Election Day is fixed, non-negotiable, and drives the highest single-day voter turnout of any calendar event. Johnsonville guaranteed its message reached a captive audience on a day when civic participation was already at peak attention. The brand didn't compete for attention—it embedded into the civic infrastructure that was already drawing eyeballs. A small physical-product brand can run the same play at municipal scale. Identify a local ballot window—city council, school board, special district elections. File a non-binding advisory question tied to your product category. Example: a hot sauce brand in Austin files a measure asking if breakfast tacos should be the official city meal. The question costs a filing fee, typically **$50 to $500** depending on jurisdiction, and requires a petition with local signatures, often **25 to 100** names. Collect signatures at farmers markets or local events where your customers already gather. Draft the ballot language to be newsworthy but non-controversial. Avoid political positions. Frame it as cultural pride or community identity. Send a press release to local beat reporters two weeks before the election. Most local newsrooms are hungry for lighter election content that balances heavy political coverage. Include high-resolution images of your product and a quote about local heritage or craft. Budget **$200** for a local PR wire if you lack media contacts. On election night, monitor results and photograph the ballot measure in official returns. Even if it fails, the participation is the story. Post results on social channels with a thank-you to voters. Tag local media accounts and use the election hashtag for your city. The earned media value from a single local TV segment often exceeds **$5,000** in equivalent ad spend, and the social amplification extends for weeks as voters share ballot photos. The broader pattern: civic infrastructure offers free distribution during high-attention windows. Brands that embed into existing systems—ballots, public records, municipal calendars—earn legitimacy and reach that paid media cannot buy. The next move is identifying which local systems in your market allow non-commercial participation and building a calendar around those fixed attention events. ## The takeaway Ballot measures turn filing fees into earned media when CPMs spike during fixed civic events with guaranteed turnout. --- ## Publisher **Hako Shikin LLC** — Virginia Beach, Virginia. Founded 1997. ASI 217876 · DUNS 18-204-6339. Principal and author: **Jenny Huang Goodman MPA MSc MHSA**. - Author: https://www.huanggoodman.com/about - LLM context: https://www.pops4.com/stash/llms.txt - MCP endpoint, for AI agents: https://mcp.pops4.com/mcp - Client dashboard: https://dashboard.pops4.com/ - Catalogue: 70,000+ products, 200+ brands