Cause Marketing: Yoplait's Save Lids to Save Lives

Cause Marketing: Yoplait's Save Lids to Save Lives

According to the Yoplait website, the Save Lids to Save Lives program was sparked by a Yoplait employee who lost a family member to cancer. In 1997, the employee helped organize Yoplait's Carson City, CA plant to support a local race for cancer. Fourteen years later, the campaign is still going strong with more than twenty General Mills' brands featuring the trademark pink lids. Customers are encouraged to buy these products with the incentive that ten cents will be donated to Susan G. Komen for the Cure for every lid (or code) redeemed online.

When the campaign began, Yoplait was the only General Mills brand involved in Save Lids to Save Lives. As a kid, I remember washing off the lids, mailing them in, and feeling incredibly empowered and proud. I would also choose Yoplait because of the pink lids because I liked to feel that I was making a difference. Today, the campaign has expanded and evolved to include many other General Mills products ranging from Cheerios and Chex Mix to Progresso and Nature Valley. Consumers can now do their "ten cents" online by redeeming a code rather than spending money on a stamp.

To continue to keep consumers engaged and interested in the campaign, customers can now personalize their contribution with an online dedication. When consumers redeem their codes online, they are given the added reward of making a public memorial or "shout out" to the person that inspired them to give to the cause. The Save Lids to Save Lives site also includes additional 'Ways to Help' as well as a complete list of campaign partners.

In total, General Mills has donated over $50 million for the breast cancer cause through Save Lids to Save Lives and other cause-related campaigns. They have stepped up as an advocate for breast cancer research by sharing facts ("Currently, 1 in 8 women living in the US will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime.") and signing onto this particular cause, General Mills simultaneously benefits from being viewed as a socially responsible company with a heart. There is no doubt that, like I did as a child, many consumers go out of their way to buy General Mills products so they can "do their part." While these purchases benefit breast cancer research, they also substantially increase business for General Mills. As long as the money continues to go to the right places, I'm willing to call that a "win-win," and an excellent example of cause marketing success.