Cause Marketing

In the September 2008 issue of Cookie magazine, a kind of parenting magazine for mothers who can still fit in their skinny jeans, I came across this small ad from the upscale retailer Lord and Taylor on behalf of a new charity called Cookies for Kids’ Cancer. The headline reads “Buy a Cookie, Save a Life.’ My reaction was, “Oh no they just didn’t!” The ad was one of seven on a single page; the kind the sales staff bundles together and sells for a bargain rate. So I automatically assumed that maybe Cookie magazine had put it together. After all, no charity would dare suggest that the purchase of a $3 cookie would actually save a human life. It’s exploitive and, well, a lie. And, critics be damned, cause-related marketing is not about lying. So I double-checked the Lord and Taylor website and listed on Sept 13 for what appears to be each of their stores is the following notice: BUY A COOKIE, SAVE A LIFE September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. This year, help Lord & ...

I don’t remember the last time I saw a cause-related marketing campaign for which the donation was predicated on consumers redeeming a coupon. But right now for every $1 off coupon you redeem for Bausch & Lomb’s ReNu multipurpose contact lens solution, they’ll give a $1 donation to Susan G. Komen For the Cure. The donation is capped at $400,000 and $300,000 is guaranteed. Back in the day, here in the United States, a plurality of cause-related marketing campaigns for packaged goods were based on coupon redemption. Now I’d say they’re the exception. But here’s the Web 2.0 twist. The coupon isn’t in this ad from the May 2008 Cookie Magazine , a parenting magazine for mothers. Instead the ad directs you to the campaign website renucares.com . To print the coupon you’re required to enter your name and email address. If you've already bought ReNu you can enter a code from the bottle to make the $1 donation. The website also has three short videos of people affected by breast cancer ...