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 & ...