I picked up a box of Triscuits last week and noticed an unusual graphic on the front – someone appeared to be farming. They were actually promoting a “Plant a Seed Grow a Movement” campaign with a nonprofit called Urban Farming. Intrigued, we looked for other similar cause marketing campaigns around the grocery store (on food items) to see what we would find.

It was interesting to see how the relationships with the nonprofits worked (my other work hat) and what other offers they had. Some have been around forever and donate to charities in general like Newman’s Own products (proceeds go to their foundation and then distributed to charities), or to more than one specific charity like Frigo Cheeseheads (donates to both World Wildlife Fund and Make-A-Wish Foundation), and some make you jump through hoops to make a difference like Betty Crocker’s Box Tops for Education program (you have to bring in the box tops) or Con Agra Foods Child Hunger Ends Here program (you have to fill out something online); some of them are just downright strange like Betty Crocker’s Win a Laptop and Give a Laptop (huh?).

Betty Crocker Fruit Roll-ups

Front of box
“You could win a laptop and help give a laptop to a child in Africa”

Back of box
“One laptop per child” “the chance to win is in the box, look inside for a winning certificate, the power to give is in your hands, visit WinOneGiveOne.com to make a difference”

More Info
http://winonegiveone.com/Default.aspx

Thoughts
When you go to their website they have these little popup screens to explain the details and in the background there are tiny little birds flying and fish flopping and I keep thinking there are bugs scooting across my screen and this obnoxious music is playing nonstop – I’m having a challenging time focusing on the text – hmmmm – a purposeful decoy? It appears they are giving away 2,001 laptop computers valued at $220 each. And every time someone wins one, they give one to the charity One Laptop Per Child which gives laptops to children in underdeveloped countries.

My big question is – do children in underdeveloped countries have internet access? And if I win a $220 laptop will I have internet access?

Keebler Chips Deluxe Cookies Rainbow

Front of box
“Turn this wrapper into a good cause” “terracycle”

Back of box
“News from the Hollow Tree! Keebler and Terracycle have joined forces to collect and turn cookie wrappers into great eco-friendly products your family will love. Get involved and discover how this wrapper can be repurposed through upcycling—go to keebler.com to: Help keep wrappers out of landfills, Learn about and join a Cookie Wrapper Brigade, and Collect wrappers for a good cause.”

More Info
http://www.terracycle.net/
Actual place for more info (not on the box) – http://www.keebler.com/terracycle.html

Thoughts
Who would NOT want to be part of a Cookie Wrapper Brigade??? I’ll do it – but only if I get to wear some kind of uniform. It looks like you can start a Cookie Wrapper Brigade by filling out a form online and you designate a nonprofit to receive the .02 cents per approved wrapper turned in by your “brigade”. Interestingly the Keebler page says you can donate to a nonprofit of your choice but when you go to the Terracycle page the nonprofits are chosen by them so you choose amongst those options only.

The big question here? How many cookie wrappers can you possibly find that will add up to any significant amount? and will you be tempted to EAT more cookies to get more money for charity?

Ralph’s Make A Wish, Wish Chip

Front of Package
“25 cents donated per package. From April-June 2011, 25 cents per package will be donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation with a minimum guarantee of $100,000 makeawish.org”

More Info
http://www.wish.org/

Thoughts
There is no other information that I can find about the campaign on the Make-a-Wish website which I think is a missed opportunity on the nonprofit’s part – but it’s a pretty traditional arrangement with a specific amount donated per package directly donated to the charity. And I love this new trend with minimum guarantees.

Kudos to Ralphs for keeping it straightforward.

Triscuit original

Front of box
“Plant a seed, Grow a Movement” “Home farming”

Back of box
“Plant the seed card glued inside this box. Grow Basil. Plant a seed grow a movement”
“…This is why we joined with Urban Farming , a nonprofit organization, to create the Home Farming Movement. We’ve already planted 50 community-based home farms across the country. And this year our commitment continues through the creation of 15 additional community-based home farms.”

More info
http://www.homefarming.com/

Thoughts
I just realized I have no seed card glued inside the box – I’ve been ROBBED! Well at least I can download the Home Farming Tool online at http://www.homefarming.com/. I’m not sure what specific tool they are referring to but there are LOTS of very cool tools on this site including a community, videos from experts, an app for your iphone, a vegetable and herb guide, recipes, and oh – I think I just found the specific tool – a My Home Farm section where you can develop a farm plan, track your farm activity and upload photos and videos. And don’t get so excited you Farmville fanatics – this is for REAL farming

Super kudos to Triscuit for creating such an interesting collaboration and lots of added value for consumers. My only question is where is the info about the nonprofit? You can find it if you hunt – http://www.urbanfarming.org/ but the focus is very heavily on Triscuit.

Betty Crocker Roasted Garlic Potatoes

Front of box
“Box tops for education” “2 Bonus Box Tops”

Back of box
“Box tops for education. Earn Cash for your school!
1. Clip box top
2. Send them to your school
3. Your school gets a check.”

More Info
http://www.boxtops4education.com/

Thoughts
It looks like a lot of brands are supporting the Box Tops campaign (which has been going on for some time) including Betty Crocker, Nestle, Land-o-lakes, Green Giant, Pillsbury – see the complete list here: http://www.boxtops4education.com/Image.aspx?id=3878&WT.ac=FMA_ParticipatingProd_08012010. Their site says they have raised $300 million since 1996 for K-8 schools.

The big question? Couldn’t they have found some healthier products to associate with? Yes I know Green Giant is on the list but look at the rest! I suppose it would be challenging to find healthy stuff in a box anyway…and it just wouldn’t sound as good or raise as much money if we said “Carrot tops for education” although I can definitely see an interesting celebrity tie-in…

Newman’s Own

Box Front
“All Profits to Charity”

Box Back
“Newman’s Own Foundation continues Paul Newman’s commitment to donate all royalties and after tax profits from this products for educational and charitable purposes. Paul Newman and Newman’s Own Foundation have given over $300 million to thousands of charities since 1982.”

More Info
http://newmansown.com/

Thoughts
Alexis pointed out that she only knows who Paul Newman is though his food – “he’s the guy who has that salad dressing” and forgets that he actually was an actor first! But that’s just a testament to how long his charitable giving has been going on and how high-profile it is. For more information on the charities the foundation gives to: http://www.newmansownfoundation.org/

Banquet Chicken Pot Pie

Box Front
“Child Hunger Ends Here Campaign”

Box Back
“When you activate your purchase at ChildHungerEndsHere.com and enter this 8-digit code, a monetary donation will be made enabling one meal to be secured by Feeding America on behalf of local food banks, up to a maximum of 2.5 million meals through codes entered through 8/31/11. Valid in U.S. only. $1 donated = 7 meals secured by Feeding America on behalf of local food banks.”

For More Info
http://www.childhungerendshere.com/Html/EnterCode.html

Thoughts
Feeding America is actually associated with lots of ConAgra brands including Marie Callendars, Healthy Choice, Chef-Boyardee, Peter Pan and Banquet. But select your products carefully, the Healthy Choice meals tend to have lots more chemicals than the non-diet foods and the Banquet frozen chicken pot pie had mechanically separated meat in it. Just like everything in a package you have to read the label – we want to be able to End Child Hunger without ending anything else important in our bodies that we might need later. Look for any foods with the big red push pin on the front.

The big question: should we just send the children the actual packaged food and then buy something healthy for ourselves? Would that be too mean? Or are they encouraging us to eat the chemical-y packaged food so they can send fresh food to the starving children? Does that seem weird? AHA – I think it’s the latter, I just entered in the “activation” code online and you get coupons for more of the exact same products.

Frigo Cheeseheads String Cheese

Box Front
“We’re Helping Endangered Animals and Their Habitats”

Box Back
“Animals share our planet and they’re counting on us to keep it safe for them. So that’s why American’s favorite string cheese is donating $75,000 to World Wildlife Fund, the organization that has been helping to keep all of our furry, scaly, slithery, feathery friends happy in their habitats around the world for the last 50 years! In celebration of WWF’s 50th anniversary, we are donating an additional $10,000 on behalf of our customers.”

More Info
To learn more about WWF, visit http://www.worldwildlife.org/home-full2.html.

Thoughts
They ALSO support Make-A-Wish Foundation – there is a little logo on the package and note about it stating that they give $200,000 annually to them – so clearly it’s a much bigger campaign. But not nearly as fun as the WWF campaign (although I don’t know if they should use those initials – I keep thinking of the World Wrestling Federation). They aren’t doing a direct percentage per product sale but they do a great job of drawing attention to the nonprofit and its mission while providing extra value for their target market – kids. The individually wrapped string cheeses actually have a different animal on each package with a fun fact about the animal – how cool is that?

For more on these charities websites see: Website Disconnects – A Tale of Two Cause Marketing Campaigns