Sticker Shock Summer: Temperatures Are Rising, and So Are Prices

We’re launching a $15 million ad campaign to educate Americans on how this administration’s policies are making summer more expensive.

Our new billboards are bringing the message straight to the people: Trump’s policies are making your summer more expensive / Credit: Home of the Brave Staff

Our mission at Home of the Brave is to show Americans the real-world consequences of this administration’s policies. And now, at the start of a hot, expensive summer, we’re launching an education and mobilization campaign to advance that mission. We’re calling it “Sticker Shock Summer.”

We want Americans to recognize a simple truth: The higher prices we’re paying at the pump and the checkout line are a direct result of the Trump administration’s disastrous economic and foreign policies. Period. It’s that simple.

We’re spending $15 million this summer to amplify this message. We’re starting that effort by spending $1 million on hundreds of billboards across 16 states, and on video advertisements that will run nationwide on digital platforms like YouTube:

As our messages echo throughout the country, we will also amplify the voices of Americans who are feeling the pinch caused by this administration’s policies right now. We will be out on the streets, interviewing people like you, who want to enjoy their summer—but instead have to pay more for less:

This campaign is based on a simple reality: Summer is a season for vacations, cookouts, road trips, friends, and family. But this summer, millions of Americans are bearing the brunt of higher costs—for no good reason other than this administration’s lack of foresight for the obvious impact of its policies.

Despite promising to lower gas prices below $2 per gallon, the Trump administration launched a war in Iran that raised energy prices across the board. Despite promising to bring back manufacturing jobs, Trump’s tariffs forced Americans to pay more for the same goods (and the number of manufacturing jobs actually decreased according to the Labor Department). While he passed a $1 trillion tax cut that benefitted the richest Americans, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act also slashed nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid spending, which could be making your insurance and medical bills even more expensive.

All of this adds up. And this summer, we want all Americans to know that the higher prices they’re paying aren’t the result of regular economic cycles. Today’s higher prices are the predictable consequence of tariffs, combined with a global economic shock driven by the disruption of oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. And why are oil tankers not flowing through the Strait? Because the Trump administration decided to unilaterally launch a war of choice against Iran.

Sticker Shock Summer exists to help tell this story, with the goal of ensuring that Americans have access to a reliable, fact-driven resource that explains the cost increases of summer staples. Check out our new website and explore how much this administration’s policies are jacking up the cost of your summer fun.

Have increased prices affected your summer plans? We want to hear your story. Visit StickerShockSummer.org and let us know how rising prices of gas, groceries, airfare, or other unexpected costs have impacted you.

Campaigns like this one depend on your support. Share this message with anyone you know who is not excited to pay more this summer. And if you want to help us keep getting this message out all summer long, consider supporting Home of the Brave today:

Michael Fanone and Sarah Matthews are advisory board members of Home of the Brave, which exists to show Americans the real-world consequences of this administration’s policies, and to highlight what bravery looks like in defense of American democracy.