Applebee's:
Save Our Stories
Applebee’s was the first national restaurant chain to offer free meals to veterans on Veterans Day. But with nearly 500 WWII veterans passing away each day, we saw a larger opportunity: to help preserve the legacy of those who served.
Save Our Stories was created to digitally preserve and honor the photographs, artifacts, and memories of America’s World War II veterans.
We launched the project by partnering with four WWII vets, capturing their incredible stories on film and digitizing their medals, uniforms, and photographs — culminating in an online gallery designed to keep their memories alive for future generations.
We also called on the public to help contribute to our archive by sharing their own photographs and stories of the war. These memories were added to our online gallery, bringing us closer to our goal of protecting and honoring as many of our veterans’ stories as possible.
Key Takeaways
✔ Concepted and wrote a purpose-driven campaign to preserve WWII veterans’ stories through digital storytelling
✔ Partnered with four WWII veterans to capture personal interviews, photos, and artifacts for an interactive online gallery
✔ Invited the public to contribute their own family stories, turning the project into a crowdsourced national tribute