WMSE.org 20TH annual

Rockabilly chili

Fundraiser

multi-channel marketing Project

Billboard with a cartoon illustration of a person with slicked back hair, crying and opening their mouth as someone offers a flaming hot chili pepper on a spoon. The text reads: 'It Hurts So Good! Rockabilly Chili Fundraiser WMSE.org.' The billboard is mounted on a building with ornate architecture.
Billboard advertising a charity fundraiser for Rockabilly and WIMSE.org, with the date April 10th, 2022, displayed on a building with ornate architectural details.
A person holding a tablet showing an online fundraiser event page for WMSE's 20th Rockabilly Chili Fundraiser. The page features a cartoon illustration of a man hurting himself while cooking chili, with bold text indicating the event's cause.
Smartphone displaying a webpage for a chili fundraiser event with a colorful header and event details.
Three posters hanging on a wall. The first poster has a red background with black and white images and text about a Texas chainsaw massacre. The second poster features a cartoon drawing of a person with a flame on a stick, advertising the Rockabilly Chili Fundraiser. The third poster contains two black and white images of animals with descriptive text.
A person wearing a white T-shirt with a graphic design promoting a chili fundraiser with a cartoon illustration of a green-faced man with a tongue sticking out and a hand holding a spoon with chili, set in a bright indoor space with large windows.
A patch on a beige fabric jacket promoting the World Hot Chili! Annual Taster event, showing a cartoon green-faced person with black hair and a red tongue, sweating and holding a spoon near a flame.

project: wmse rockabilly chili, an annual fundraiser for milwaukee's independent community radio station.

deliverables: posters, magazine ads, billboards, website, motion piece.

date: spring 2022.

wmse 91.7 fm is milwaukee's independent community radio station — listener-supported, volunteer-run, the real thing. the rockabilly chili is their annual fundraiser. local chefs and firefighters bring their best chili, the crowd tastes through all of it, lakefront pours, a band plays.

the concept started with research into past wmse campaigns and a stack of moodboards. the fundraiser lives in a specific cultural register — rockabilly, hot food, community radio, not corporate. the work had to feel handmade and a little weird without losing legibility across the campaign.

the visual centerpiece was an original illustration: a guy eating the hottest chili of his life, sweat pouring, eyes watering, mouth open. funny, a little absurd, exactly right for what this event actually is. the figure carried across every piece — posters, magazine ads, billboards, web, motion — white in some placements, green in others, with a vintage rockabilly type treatment holding the system together.

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