Year round pinkification

Estee Lauder is going to new lengths to create year round pinkificaiton. In October 2014, they will offer story telling videos of four families facing breast cancer. They made sure to include young and old, Asian and African Americans so it can't be deemed racist, sexist, or ageist.

They have two good reasons for running the campaign year round. The first is that with breast cancer its a year round diagnosis, not just one month of the year. That is clearly been a complaint for decades. But the other is their multimillion dollar campaign won't fit into one month. I am sure they could have made it fit into one month but it doesn't really impress me yet.

There will be personal touches through the storytelling....

"The company plans to add a personal touch through storytelling, via documentary-style online videos featuring four real-life families affected by the disease. Viewers are also encouraged to upload their own videos and stories, which may be featured on the site in the future."

Will that include the hairless body and rushing to the bathroom. And maybe they will get extra Estee Lauder makeup to cover the chemo pallor.

"Some of the donations will also come straight from the company's own pocket.  The Breast Cancer Research Foundation will receive portions of sales from 15 "Pink Ribbon" products with brand names like Aveda, Bobbi Brown, Clinique, La Mer, Origins, and Estée Lauder itself. Furthermore, the retailer will donate one dollar for each uplifting photo shared on one of their social media platforms (with a cap at $22,000)."

And the truth comes out in two little statements. first of all the BRCF will receive portions from the sale of 15 products? And how much would that portion be? A tiny $0.50 on a $50 product? That is one issue here. The second statement is the $22,000 cap on the photos shared. Does that mean they will only donate up to $22K for all the pictures shared or $22K for each of the pictures shared?

"While Estée Lauder had been planning to focus heavily on Internet platforms for some time, the recent success of the ALS Association’s Ice-Bucket Challenge proved the effectiveness of online activism, with nearly $80 million raised in one month, compared to $2.5 million last year."

Well goody for them. They are using social media and internet platforms and want to tap into the online activism as with the Ice Bucket Challenge. Sorry. I doubt it. The ice bucket challenge worked because it was a single guy who started it, not a corporation and it was a nice hot summer time where a bucket of ice isn't so bad. January would be bad. Its very difficult to create an online viral success. the best ones are teh spontaneous ones that cross borders, touch a nerve with people, and have a sensne of humor and one-up-manship (I triple dog dare you to dump a bucket of ice water on your head). 

I'm sorry a pink ribboned product isn't going to make me do much of anything. And some ad agency must be raking in big bucks for all of this.