Cause Marketing

When I posted about Qdoba’s instant-on cause marketing effort to benefit the Colorado wildfire crisis, the estimable cause marketer Steve Drake asked where was the rest of these kind of promotions were to be found, especially in the state of Colorado. In fact, a number of Colorado food and dining establishments have offered cause marketing, flat donations of money and food, in addition to prayers. Here’s a rundown: A Colorado Panera franchisee, Local Breads of the World, made a $20,000 donation to the Care and Share Food Bank In Golden the Boston Market served food to evacuees and volunteers at the infamous Waldo Canyon Fire. The Einstein Brothers Bagel location in Lakewood linked its Facebook page to the American Red Cross website and urged patrons to help and thank firefighters. LaMar’s Donuts and Coffee in Centennial donated 4,000 donuts to firefighters and volunteers working near Ft. Collins. Noodles and Company in Broomfield used its Facebook page to ask fans to offer a prayer ...

Qdoba Mexican Grill, a Colorado-based fast-casual Mexican food chain restaurant, is doing one of those instant-on cause marketing efforts benefiting the firefighting effort in the wildfire-ravaged state of Colorado. Next Tuesday, July 10, 2012 all 72 Qdoba restaurants in Colorado will ask customers for a minimum $1 donation to the Red Cross fund called Colorado Wildfires 2012. Everyone who donates a $1 minimum will get Qdoba’s chips and three-cheese appetizer free. Qdoba will match the first $50,000 raised dollar for dollar. The total goal, therefore, is $100,000. Qdoba has about 700 locations spread across the United States.  The money will go to the American Red Cross, which in cases of natural disaster like this provides shelter and other support to the people affected by the fires. During the course of Colorado’s wildfires tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes for at least a day. Kudos (Qudos?) to Qdoba for this instant-on cause marketing effort.