Instead of giving another towel warmer, foot massager, electric razor, cat calendar, crumb duster or electronic jewelry cleaner—give Toms Shoes.
For every pair you purchase, Toms will give a pair of shoes to a child in need. One for one.
1,000,000 men, women, boys and girls are suffering from Podoconiosis in Ethiopia. What is Podoconiosis? A soil-transmitted disease caused by walking, farming, working, playing or running barefoot in silica-rich soil.
What is silica? Silica is ancient volcanic glass that penetrates the skin and makes its way into the lymphatic system. The feet and lower legs swell. Open sores and ulcers develop. Infection sets in.
But here is the good news: Podoconiosis is 100% preventable. Without the use of a vaccine or an expensive antibiotic. This disease is prevented by simply wearing shoes.
And that’s where you come in.
This holiday season Toms wants to give 30,000 pairs of shoes to children in Ethiopia. And we need your help.
So, share this video, forward this link, make flyers, call your congressman.
Tell Bush, tell Obama. tell your mama.
And join us. Help us reach 30,000.
Give TOMS Shoes.
Sure, to give 30,000 pairs of shoes, they have to sell 30,000 pairs of shoes.
Thanks to Martin Pierce for sharing this campaign with me. He also thought his nuts (actually, the can they came in) would be a great topic for the blog on Wednesday. They were.
Did you know that, on average, teachers spend about $1,200 of their own money to cover the cost of classroom supplies?
The “teacher-funded” classroom is an outrage when you consider teacher compensation, and OfficeMax has partnered with Adopt-A-Classroom “to recognize extraordinary teachers for their dedication and innovative approach to education.”
During their A Day Made Better event, 1,300 teachers across the US were honored for their efforts and received classroom supplies valued at more than $1,000.
Here’s how it went:
Bob Thacker, senior vice president of marketing for OfficeMax:
Teachers inspire and shape our country’s greatest asset, our children, and it is astounding that they are left to cover the cost of doing a good job.
With our ‘A Day Made Better’ events, OfficeMax wants to inspire a national movement of support for teachers by attracting national attention to them on one special day and showing how easy it is to change this deplorable situation.
OfficeMax gets a tip of my hat for tackling this problem. I recently served on the board of an educational foundation whose primary focus is to bridge the education funding gap in my town.
This problem is real.
So, does this change your opinion of OfficeMax, or will you still go to Office Depot or Staples for your office supplies?
Last year, Pampers teamed with Unicef to provide tetanus shots for mothers and children in developing countries. Their campaign was set to last three months, but I saw the above ad last night, so it appears they’ve extended the program.
Everyone wins: The vaccination recipients–for obvious reason, P&G–because of the goodwill it generates, and the consumer–because they get to feel like they are helping in some small way.
The actual money involved is only about a nickel per pack, but when you are P&G, that nickel adds up to about $3 million in three months, or about 40 million vaccinations. Not too shabby.
Here’s a video explaining the vaccine’s journey to the people that need it most:
Of course, we can’t let Pampers off the hook completely. After all, their diapers aren’t biodegradable and are filling our landfills at an alarming rate. The company recognizes this, and claims their “thinner, lighter, super-absorbent diapers — have reduced Procter & Gamble’s diaper bulk by approximately 40% since 1986.”
The company goes on to say they are working on reducing the amount of material used per unit, and Pampers bags contain at least 25% post-consumer recycled plastic.
That’s not dealing with the diaper problem, but it’s a start.
I applaud Pampers for taking the steps they’ve taken, but I’d like to see P&G do more. While a nickel per pack doesn’t seem like much, considering the fact that the company touches 2 billion lives per day worldwide, imagine the force for good P&G could become if they did something like this with all their brands.
Now that’s some math I could learn to like.
So do you think Pampers is doing enough?
And where have you seen great examples of cause marketing recently?
Do you have an affinity to your laundry detergent? You might after you read this.
After Hurricane Katrina and the recent California wildfires, Tide dispatched their CleanStart trucks to the scene to help. These mobile laundry facilities provided the families of these disasters with free laundry services when they needed it most.
The CleanStart trucks feature 32 high-efficiency washers and dryers and do up to 300 wash and dry cycles a day, or about 9,000 loads of laundry over a four-week period.
Tide washed more than 20,000 loads of laundry for New Orleans families, half of those loads coming at a critical time at Camp Hope in Metairie, Louisiana.
The people at Tide were so moved by their Katrina experience, they decided to make Loads of Hope permanent.
The company has worked to engage the public, and the Loads of Hope website offers a video journal, a message board, a scrapbook and the option to purchase a limited edition vintage Tide t-shirt to help families affected by disasters.
I’m sure there are a few people in Louisiana and California that have become Tide customers for life. And I know this campaign has driven word of mouth because I’ve been asked if I was going to write about it three times. But has your opinion changed?
