Chores for Charity
I love to vacuum. It blocks out the rest of the world and helps me relieve stress. My mother use to like to vacuum, although with seven kids she did it more out of necessity than love. I'd wake to hear her vacuuming on most mornings. The sound was like white noise to a baby as it would soon lull me back to sleep. Sigh.
I use to know a woman that vacuumed herself into bed each night. Now 
that's love--the type that almost got her institutionalized.
She and I wouldn't need $50 to get us to vacuum, but if you're like most people you'd probably appreciate the incentive. I think that's what the Oreck Corporation and Komen Breast Cancer Foundation were thinking when they teamed up for Clean for the Cure.
The Oreck Corporation will donate $50.00 to Komen when you try its special edition "pink" Oreck XL in your home for 30 days. Oreck must be confident about the partnership--and very generous--because they've already agreed to donate at least $250,000 to Komen.
This is a great promotion for several reasons.
- Except for David Oreck and me, women are the ones buying vacuum cleaners AND battling breast cancer. It's the right product for Komen; it's the right charity for Oreck.
- You don't even have to buy the vacuum for Komen to get the 50 bucks. You just have to try it for 30 days. It's a win-win for the consumer and Komen, and a win for Oreck too as most people will keep the vacuum. (Full disclosure: I own an Oreck and love it.)
- I was really impressed that Oreck took the plunge and manufactured a pink vacuum for the promotion. Most people use their vacuum at least once a week, so it will be a great reminder of Komen's mission.
- Oreck is aggressively promoting the partnership, including a full-page ad in Parade last week, where I first saw it.
If you're like me and love to vacuum, an Oreck is the way to go and the kickback to Komen is an added bonus. If you don't like to vacuum, you can help a great cause just by trying the Oreck XL. I also bet you'll like vacuuming a lot more after using it. Either way, everyone will clean up.
Technorati tags: cause marketing, clean for the cure, david oreck, komen breast cancer foundation, oreck corporation, parade magazine
