http://www.americangreetings.com/channel/kraft/

Kraft Foods and American Greetings have teamed up to help provide meals for the hungry by donating 10 meals for every free e-card that is sent by users. Donations benefit Feeding America, the largest hunger relief charity in the US.The company had originally committed to donating at least one million meals, but the program has been so successful they are increasing their commitment by offering 3 million meals.

The e-cards include recipes, and entertaining tips for the holiday season. Users can create online recipe boxes, and share their favorites with other users or friends. Users who had shown interest in giving back to their communities inspired the program.Kraft has been a longtime supporter of Feeding America, donating $770 million over the past 25 years.Promotion for this program has been on online social networking sites twitter and facebook, as well as the kraftfoods.com site. The company has also sponsored a holiday movie on the hallmark channel.

I think the fact that Kraft and American Greetings have kept a relatively low profile on this promotion is great. Kraft is trying the help their site users feel like they are  making an impact and giving food to the hungry this holiday season!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Perhaps it’s the holiday spirit, but something about the new Toll House cookie commercial almost moved me to tears, and I think it’s safe to say that was the advertisers intent.

Check it out:

In this spot, Nestle Toll House, a relatively low effort processing and decision-making product is presented as the hero.  Since attitudes formed under low-effort processing are often not stored to memory, Toll House uses  emotional appeals and unconscious influences to affect the attitudes and beliefs of the target market and aid the consumer in recalling the brand later.

One of the techniques this ad uses is transformational advertising in which the goal is to create an association between the experience of using the product and certain psychological characteristics. Specifically, Toll House is increasing emotional involvement by creating a richer experience with the product as opposed to just highlighting product benefits.

Additionally, Toll House is increasing relevance to the consumer by using self-referencing, a common strategy used to increase the extent to which a consumer is engaged in relating the scenario or  message in an ad to their own experiences– such as coming home from college to fresh-baked cookies, or providing yummy treats for a granddaughter’s soccer team.

In sticking with the theme of virtuous advertising, I’d also like to point out the genuinely positive message of “paying it forward” that the commercial uses by creating a chain of inspiration between the actors in the commercial to bake some love and pass it on.

A truly great message and utilization of persuasion theories– what more could you ask for on this day of family togetherness? Now I have something to use as an explanation to show my family what advertising is all about, because we know the inevitable topic of conversation at dinner will include asking me what it is that I am doing/plan on doing in the future.

Gotta love family! Happy Thanksgiving!

I loved this commercial because it is so brutally honest. Online bullying occurs every where and the worst part is people can make up anything and everyone thinks its true. The same person can write mean thing after mean thing about you and since its online and anonymous the victim believes that it is coming from a lot of different people. One website that is well known for only talking bad about people is juicycampus.com. This commercial shows how comments on that website are just as mean as if you were saying them in person. This ad carries a positive message that we all should follow and with this blog starting i think it shows how we should respect everyones comments and only respond in ways that you would respond to them in person.

While looking for another VISA ad, I came across this one. I remember seeing this commercial during the Olympics last summer and really felt it captured the spirit of The Games… celebrating what we all have in common rather than allowing our differences to divide us. I loved this message! I remember rewinding it for my kids and expounding on it. (Of course, I wasn’t nearly as eloquent as Morgan Freeman. )

Although The Games are over, the message is still important… and this ad still gives me chills!

Another “oldie but goodie” commercial, but one that fits perfectly in a site called AdVirtues.

The first of its kind, this ad demonstrates how the beauty industry deceives its consumers. Girls being raised with such unrealistic perceptions of beauty can develop very negative self-images. It was high time someone SHOWED the truth!

Could any website dedicated to virtuous advertising be complete without this commercial?? With its message that the best things in life can’t be bought, this campaign was not only heart-warming, but highly effective. It served the company and the community, which is the definition of advertising at its best.

I saw this commercial earlier today, and it sure made me want to go register for this. For those of you who do not know, this breast cancer walk lasts for 3 days and 60 miles, and the volunteer walkers raise money and awareness to try to find the cure for breast cancer. At the walk, everyone is there for the same purpose: they believe in a world without breast cancer. I love the idea that so many people volunteer in many cities nationwide to help with this valid and wonderful cause, and I also think the advertisement preaches a valuable message: do something that matters. Women that have either personally suffered or no someone that has truly understand that the virtues of life become much more apparent in your life when in a time of need. If you look closely in the advertisement, women are holding up signs saying “optimism”, “love”, and “hope”. I think that the most remarkable line in this ad is saying that this walk is a “celebration of life”, what a positive and encouraging way to look at this dreadful disease. Let’s all join this cause!