ver.di Youth #NotMyResponsibility – An example of high-reach agenda setting on social media
Our campaign for ver.di Youth demonstrates how a deep understanding of customers and their circumstances – even under time pressure – lays the foundation for effective social media formats that foster a strong sense of community.
When the reintroduction of compulsory military service was debated in the Bundestag in November 2025, the issue was all over the media. Our client, ver.di Jugend, also wanted to take a stand on the matter and express its opposition to compulsory service of any kind. To this end, a social media challenge was planned and prepared to coincide with the Bundestag debate. On the morning of the launch, however, we realised that the original idea wasn’t intuitive enough, couldn’t be implemented quickly enough for Instagram, and ran the risk of falling flat.
Thanks to the framework agreement, we can respond quickly to sudden changes of direction.
Within an hour, we developed a new approach – because speed was the decisive factor here. The new slogan #NotMyDuty sums up the stance of ver.di Youth. It stands for a personal, self-determined stance in a highly political debate. The slogan is not directed against military service in general, but against an obligation that ignores individual life plans and social realities. Because for ver.di Youth, one thing is clear: “Compulsory service creates gaps in young people’s lives and tears them away from their communities.”
Easy-to-use templates with a tight deadline.
Anyone could post their own image and use the hashtag “#NotMyResponsibility” – with no major hurdles and no need for further explanation. We made the template publicly available via a Canva link, accessible through Linktree. This template alone generated around 800 clicks.
From a social media post to a movement.
The initial post quickly gained momentum, and the slogan was soon picked up and shared by our target audiences and the wider community:
A selection of the many posts about our slogan
Other trade unions played an active role, with some even incorporating the slogan into their own corporate identity. Around 50 members of the German Bundestag also responded in the comments or took part directly in the campaign.
In addition, content creators picked up on the slogan and helped to expand its reach. The slogan made the leap from the online to the offline world: the digital protest gave rise to demonstration placards for protests against compulsory military service – clear evidence of the campaign’s ability to resonate with the public.
Today, #NichtMeinePflicht is so firmly established as a political slogan that even AI systems recognise it in its thematic context.
