Carhartt was founded in 1889 as a manufacturer of durable, high-quality workwear. More recently, rappers and fashionistas have made its utility pants, flannel shirts, insulated jackets and other apparel surprisingly en vogue.
But the brand’s new “Made Possible” campaign is not a reaction to the brand’s newfound popularity beyond its core audience of laborers. Instead, says Norma Delaney, VP of Global Brand Marketing at Carhartt, it’s “about shedding a light on the skilled trades. It’s a celebration of hard work and the people who build the world around us.”
Partnering Up with the Buffalo Bills
Carhartt introduced “Made Possible” in mid-August with a 30-second spot showing construction workers, farmers, roadies and other “unsung heroes building the world we live in,” as the voiceover notes. Featuring snippets of upcoming ads, the spot is something of a teaser for the rest of the campaign, which will run through December.
A week after the debut ad, Carhartt released “Making the Stadium Possible.” Nearly six minutes long, this film spotlights the more than 1,400 skilled tradespeople who have worked on the new Highmark Stadium, which will become the official home of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills in 2026. Additional long-form content will focus on workers at entertainment properties and, says Delaney, farmers and others “who make the holidays possible.”
As part of the partnership with the Bills, Carhartt is running media in the team’s current stadium, with heavy digital media in Buffalo and adding YouTube and connected TV for more effective reach. In addition, Carhartt will advertise during Bills games on linear and Prime Video TV. “We’re really placing our buys to those key matchups for the Bills,” she said.
Throughout autumn, Carhartt will also be promoting the campaign on owned media and organic and paid social. “We’re making sure that our plans are full funnel and we’re really being deliberate,” says Delaney, who has made ensuring campaigns are layered and more comprehensive something of a priority since joining the company in September 2024. She had previously been CMO of apparel manufacturer johnnie-O.
Commitment to the Skilled Trades
“Made Possible” can be seen as another layer of Carhartt’s ongoing commitment to the skilled trades and career and technical education (CTE). In 2020 it launched “For the Love of Labor,” which awards grants to trade programs. As part of its work with the Bills, for instance, Carhartt donated $250,000 to Metallica’s All Within My Hands foundation to support SUNY Erie Community College’s workforce education programs. It also gave $50,000 to the Thurman Thomas Family Foundation, the brainchild of the eponymous former Bills running back, to support young Buffalo residents interested in entering the skilled trades.
Reinforcing its emphasis on educating people for skilled trades, Carhartt launched its Steel Apple awards in March 2025, honoring exceptional skilled-trades instructors nationwide. The name references a key construction material and the trope of rewarding a teacher with an apple. Each of this year’s five winners received $10,000 to invest in their classrooms as well as workwear for themselves; the company also donated another $100,000 to launch and expand CTE programs.
A national shortage of skilled tradespeople is adding to the urgency and relevance of Carhartt’s efforts. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are more than 650,000 unfilled construction and manufacturing jobs alone. “We have been committed to education and the skilled trades for a while, but when you layer in that there is this labor shortage, we want people to know it’s a very viable path,” Delaney explains.
Making tradespeople the hero of its campaign is designed to encourage people to consider this career path while signaling to the Carhartt audience that the company understands and appreciates them. “The brand has a lot of fans, and from a marketing standpoint we can tend to get broad, but it’s really about having a laser focus on [skilled tradespeople], Delaney says. “The more true to ourselves and our roots we are, the more appealing the brand.”
Featured image credit: Carhartt
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