Tide Loads of Hope
ByTide’s effort to benefit their community includes their newest program loads of hope. Tide representatives travel in their mobile laundromat to cities affected by natural disasters around the country. These disasters include anything from floods to fires to hurricanes. Tide representatives wash, dry, and fold families’ clothes for free. There are two ways people can help in this effort. The first is by purchasing a Tide vintage t-shirt where all profits go toward helping families affected by these disasters. The second is by purchasing a bottle of Tide with the yellow cap, but only ten cents go to support the cause. This is their most recent advertisement:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpZqJx7odL8
This campaign fits directly into our discussions of cause advertising and social responsibility, and also to our discussion of appealing to consumers’ values. As we assume that the majority of people are concerned with saving money, I believe that most people value making a difference especially through small efforts. I also believe that enough of America has been affected by some sort of disaster that they can relate to this message. Everyone can sympathize with what the women says about not having the most basic essentials.
If you visit the website, the call to action involving these vintage t-shirts is for America to purchase 1000 loads of vintage t-shirts in 100 days. As of now, only 5% of that goal has been achieved and I think that is in large part due to the lack of publicity. I have seen the Tide commercials that have the alternative ending with asking consumers to purchase Tide with the yellow caps. But even in the commercial above, I feel as if there was some mention of the goal for the 1000 loads that would instill some sense of urgency in people.
What is also great about this cause advertising is that it directly relates to a benefit of the product. So many times we see products slap a pink ribbon on their packaging that really has no correlation to their purpose. Tide has taken a common cause of disaster relief, and showed the direct benefits of their product.
3 Comments
November 27th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
i agree with Morgan that this promotion by Tide is for a very worthy cause but needs a bit more promotion to get the results that they are looking for. This was the first time that I have heard about the Loads of Hope program, which is surprising since it is coming from a major company like Tide who frequently advertises. The Loads of Hope promotion is interesting because doing laundry is not one of the first things that you think of when you think about creating a cause for people affected by natural disasters. The way that Tide approached doing this commercial and explaining the cause was done very well. I liked that they used the woman who said, “you don’t know how very basic essentials are till you have none.” This really makes consumers think about how something as small as doing laundry can help someone out more than they expect.
November 30th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
Although I agree with every point made, I especially agree with the last point. The pink ribbon has almost become overdone to the point where the consumer doesn’t notice it anymore… it’s all too common. The marketplace is way too crowded.
Secondly, we have talked a lot this semester about previous experiences and the effect they have on how a consumer views advertising. Speaking from a consumers perspective (and wearing a different hat than just a critic), having lived through many hurricanes and thus being forced to evacuate and live in less-than-favorable conditions, I identified with this advertisement. You hear about many organizations trying to reach out to disaster zones and how they fail to live up to expectations. Tide is doing something that just makes sense. You know? Yes, they are putting their brand name out there, but they are doing in a responsible manner. They are not being overly intrusive, but they are convincing the consumer that they are responsible. They are providing a comfort to consumers that will allow them to escape from their horrendous surroundings. Also, by providing the testimonials in their ads, consumers can identify with the victims even if they haven’t experienced anything to that detrimental degree.
March 17th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
Great! Another corporation finding new ways to padd their profits…this is one of the most dispicable campaigns I have ever seen! And the fact that we have young people “learning” to propagandize the public is disturbing.
disturbing (think Orwell-1984)