Cause-marketing becoming more "sexy" less "caring"

I like Will Ferrell as much as the next person...but seriously? Cone Inc. of Boston (an agency that specializes in cause-marketing) describes the buzz-kill of so many cause-related campaigns. One of these trends is described as cause-lite in which "recession-weary consumers are becoming somewhat less receptive to activist messages, no matter how good the cause". With orgs like College for Cancer (the one Will Ferrell represents on the sunscreen bottle to the left), Twitter for Sh-tters, & Wherever the Need makes consumers even less likely to feel the need to buy a cause-product or a product that endorses an unrecognizable cause. Not to say that any of these causes are worthless...just pointing out that they aren't quite as recognizable as say...American Cancer Society or Susan G. Komen.

Mediaspot highlights a positive note of how recognizable causes are standing out through creative ads. Check out the 3 ads available on YouTube for the Blood Center of Central Texas - elevator, shopping cart, & burger to see my point. The outside-the-box stuff is actually working too! There's been an increase in 20% more blood since the campaign started...so get out there and "Redeem Yourself"!