Land’s End, in partnership with the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless (MCH), the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH), and its retailer Sears, has begun an initiative they dubbed “BigBostonWarmUp.”  It began in Boston and has spread nationwide. With its goal to provide coats to keep the nation’s homeless warm in the upcoming freezing winter months, especially in Boston, Sears has asked consumers to bring in their lightly-used coats to its Land’s End Shop at Sears. In return, Sears will grant a discount of 20% off any new Land’s End coat purchased by the consumer. The website, available at http://www.bigwarmup.com/, tracks how many coats are donated per store, per state, and how many homeless are in that state. A heart, which is a motif they have used recurrently on the website, is placed next to the store in which most coats have been donated. Once you donate your coat, you can track where it is and where it has finally been donated. The site also provides statistics of the steadily increasing size of the homeless population (11% increase in Boston last year alone), and the fact that most of them are families is very sobering.

The commercial Land’s End Shop at Sears has created to promote its initiative is extremely creative! The commercial begins with a drama–a story unfolds about a mother who gives her son a red, Land’s End coat for Christmas. She sews on his name, and the commercial follows him through milestones in his life: college,, first kiss, marriage, children, moving, etc. Finally, it’s time to dispose of the coat that has been with him his whole life. The next screen shows a homeless man receiving the coat. The incredible twist to this online commercial is that at the end, we see a woman leaving the shelter holding a coat; when she looks down to see the name of the past owner, it’s your name! It ends with: “[Your Name], your gently used coat can help one of our nation’s many homeless people stay warm this coming winter.”

The commercial (featured above) inspires affective involvement from its viewers–it is both touching and surprising in that it really drives the point home that social responsibility is not just a lofty idea, it is a something YOU can do for one another. It makes social responsibility relevant to each consumer, on a personal level, literally by name. This ad demonstrates shared values we strive for in our culture, namely the importance of family, greater social unity, and generosity towards the less fortunate. The drama that opens the ad hooks us in with its relevance to the life of any average American. And that is the point–every average American can make a difference. The company is also uniting altruistic motives with profit-based motives, in that in addition to donating, it also sells it products (new coats) and promotes positive associations of the Land’s End brand. Moreover, it is using social media and optimizing on the current trend of internet advertising and user-generated content. It also targets the disposition of the product in the consumption behavior tripartite model, and reducing the buyer’s perceived risk and hesitation of buying a new coat and  having to dispose of the old coat–we are instead recycling and not wasting. Additionally, the music aids in this perfect example of transformational advertising–it is touching, yet simple.

Enjoy the commercial, and have fun sending it to others!! And remember, only 12 more days to donate a coat (the campaign ends in November).