Back in February, I told you about a campaign for the Canadian Urban Transit Association that had been months in the making. If you live in a major Canadian urban area, you've probably seen it in bus shelters around your town:
Now, I have no idea which concept was conceived, approved, or published first. The fact is, this sort of thing happens all the time. We creatives are not that much different from each other, and when a nice, simple idea presents itself it's hard to ignore it. We try to imagine if we've seen it before. We Google the headlines. But when you come right down to it, coincidences happen.
What makes this one sort of weird is that it is essentially for the same cause — Retire Your Ride — but while one wants you to trade your old car in for a new one, the other (ours) suggests you get a bus pass.
I also think ours is a more elegant solution. But I'm biased.
Mother's Day is just two days away, and our iheartmom.cacampaign has been a viral success.
So far, the video has had 4200+ views in less than two weeks, and the French and English Cause groups have almost a thousand do-gooders each. One fan, Paula, has even set up a birthday wish page where she asks that her friends donate to the cause in lieu of birthday gifts.
The launch of the campaign, with Joannie Rochette telling the sad story of how she lost her mother during the Olympics, made international headlines. As a result of our international Blogger Relations, Joannie's campaign has been spotted in blogs in places as far away as Switzerland, Moldova and Korea, as well as in figure skating forums.
The campaign will keep going after Mother's Day, but in the final push of phase one I urge you to donate through the iheartmom.ca site. You can do it through the Cause page, or direct to the University of Ottawa Heart Institute.
The University of Ottawa Heart Institute is Canada’s largest and foremost cardiovascular health centre dedicated to understanding, treating and preventing heart disease. We deliver high-tech care with a personal touch, shape the way cardiovascular medicine is practiced, and revolutionize cardiac treatment and understanding. We build knowledge through research and translate discoveries into advanced care. We serve the local, national and international community, and are pioneering a new era in heart health.
Don't hesitate if you're outside of Ottawa, or even Canada. Your donations fund care, education and research that are working to reduce heart disease worldwide. Some of UOHI’s work includes
• Caring for more than 80,000 patients each year • Providing cardiovascular training to more than 100 physicians annually • Setting new cholesterol standards • Causing the medical community worldwide to rethink how disease develops • Launching a protocol that has cut deaths from heart attacks by 50 per cent • Discovering a gene that increases the risk for cardiovascular disease by 40%!
Since the beginning of the campaign, we have added an option to send your mom an e-card letting her know you've donated on her behalf. And just for fun (because I love working every angle in social media for a good cause) I set up a Facebook Group called "I made a Mother's Day donation to support the heart health of all women" just to wring the very last drops of goodwill out of my online friends :)
While I've been focussing my energies on fight women's heart disease through Joannie Rochette's crusade at iheartmom.ca, I can't face Mother's Day without remembering that breast cancer continues to be a major priority for women. And I especially can't avoid a message from a woman from my past: Kim Cattrall
Many of you younger folk know this Canadian from her role on Sex and the City, but I remember her best for an earlier role in Porky's:
Let's just say she made a lasting impression on 12-year-old me. And she continues to be a star with a lot of appeal for both men and women.
Here in Canada, Supermarket clothing label Joe is the sponsor.
Back to our own celebrity campaign, thanks to the continued endorsement of Joannie Rochette, our iheartmom video is close to 4000 views, and the English and French Cause pages have almost 900 members each!
If you haven't checked out iheartmom.ca yet, do it now. We've added an option to donate to fight women's heart disease on your mom's behalf, and send a Mother's Day card letting her know. Can you imagine a better way to show your love?
I wasn't planning to do a theme week on weird fast food corporate social responsibility, but I saw this link on MTLB:
"In honor of National Hamburger Month, White Castle is adding a new product to its Crave Store and select White Castle restaurants (on May 3): a Slyder-scented candle in a ceramic holder shaped like a Slyder cardboard sleeve."
Whoa. Or perhaps "ewwww!"
With no White Castle in my area, I've never actually had a Slyder. But I can't imagine a burger anywhere I'd want to scent my living room. At least not without the aroma heralding the eating of an actual burger. But late at night, with wine and Roxy Music? Not so romantic.
To make the candle, White Castle teamed up with Laura Slatkin (described as"queen of home fragrances"), the owner of Candela Group.
The candles are for a good cause, however, with all proceeds going to benefit Autism Speaks — the largest autism science and advocacy organization in the United States.
And as a quick visit to White Castle's "Crave Store" confirms, the "candles that smell like a greasy bag of burgers" fad has caught on.
I guess it's an American thing.
Speaking of fundraising, Joannie Rochette's iheartmom campaign to fight women's heart disease continues to spread its influence leading up to Mother's Day. If you haven't seen the viral video yet, check it out (and donate!) at iheartmom.ca
The basic deal is that 50¢ from every special pink bucket will go to support Susan G. Komen for the Cure, an important charity in the fight against breast cancer. With a minimum $1,000,000 donation, and over $2,800,000 raised so far, this represents the single largest donation Komen will ever have received.
That's the good news. The campaign Facebook page gives the lunchbag letdown that corporately, KFC operators have already made a 50¢ donation for every pink bucket they bought, and that your purchases of pink chicken buckets make no difference. (Even though you are encouraged to donate directly.)
More disturbing is the menu at the top of the page:
This rant, though, is more about pinkwashing. Borrowed from the popular term "greenwashing", which describes a misleading environmental stewardship campaign, pinkwashing is the health version. Specifically for breast cancer.
Many studies have linked body weight to breast cancer risk. However, weight affects risk for pre and postmenopausal women differently. Before menopause, being overweight appears to decrease a woman's risk of getting breast cancer. After menopause, however, being overweight increases the risk by 30 to 60 percent. This relationship can be explained mainly by the fact that fat tissue contains an enzyme called aromatase. This enzyme converts hormones called androgens (made mostly in the adrenal glands) to estrogens, and this extra estrogen can increase breast cancer risk. Learn more about estrogen and breast cancer risk.
Yoiks! Perhaps that chicken should come with an age restriction.
But cynicism aside, I realize how important a big contribution like this is in the fight against cancer. It's just unfortunate that it's coming in parallel with a move towards serving less and less healthy food. It has actually led to some pretty harsh criticism and satire aimed at Komen.
And speaking of health causes, our iheartmom.ca campaign for women's heart health is now in week 2. Please join Joannie Rochette and the University of Ottawa Heart Institute to raise money and awareness to fight heart disease — the #1 killer of women in North America.
