CASE

Crush The Can Tax

Problem:

A company was lobbying the Biden administration for new tariffs that threatened to raise food prices and kill thousands of manufacturing jobs.

Solution:

POOLHOUSE launched the Crush the Can Tax campaign within days, flooding Washington with a message about the impact on jobs and food prices to regulators, influencers, and legislators.

Outcome:

With 15.6 million impressions and near-total visibility in D.C., the campaign helped shine a light on this unfair carve out, resulting in the Commerce Department backing off most of the tariffs.

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Problem

Cleveland-Cliffs, an iron and steel company, was quietly lobbying the Biden Administration for new tariffs on tinplate steel that would benefit their bottom line, but would raise food costs for families and threaten nearly 40,000 American manufacturing jobs. The policy was moving fast, and if no one acted, the cost would’ve quickly hit families, food banks, and factories across the country. Few outside of Washington knew it was happening and time was short.

Solution

POOLHOUSE created and launched the Crush the Can Tax campaign in days, building a multi-channel effort that floored Washington DC with digital, video, billboard and other real-world ad placements. The message was clear and showed up everywhere: this was a tax on groceries and a threat to jobs.

Outcome

In just three months, the campaign generated 15.6 million impressions and nearly 4 million completed video views, with an average video completion rate over 97 percent. Our content saturated Washington, and key decision-makers took notice. The Commerce Department ultimately rejected most of the proposed tariffs, and the campaign became a model for how to win quickly.