The Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays so I’m combining it with my other favorite thing: cause marketing. For the next four days I’m profiling four different cause marketing programs to celebrate Independence Day.
My first pick is Starbucks’ Indivisible campaign. Indivisible isn’t a new program or specifically focused on Independence Day. It’s been around since October when Starbucks began selling the Indivisible bracelet. But this program has special meaning on the Fourth.
On June 29th, Starbuck’s Howard Schultz released an open letter to the American people.
Across the country, millions of Americans are out of work. Many more are working tirelessly yet still unable to adequately care for their families. Our veterans are not being welcomed home with the level of support they deserve. Meanwhile, in our nation’s capital, our elected leaders are continuing to put ideology over real solutions. I love America, but we all know there is something wrong. The deficits this country must reconcile are much more than financial, and our inability to solve our own problems is sapping our national spirit. We are better than this. America’s history has showed that we have accomplished extraordinary things when we act collectively, with courage, creativity, and generosity of spirit—especially during trying times.
As we celebrate all that is great about our country, let’s come together and amplify our voices.
To me, this is what Independence Day is all about. It’s not just about BBQ’s, fireworks and road races. It’s about prodding and questioning what was created on that day in 1776, and how it can be improved. That’s what the former slave and abolitionist Frederick Douglas did on Independence Day in 1852 when he asked What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?. Suffragists Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony also poked and prodded on the Centennial with a Declaration of Rights of the Women of the United States.
Schultz is in good company.
The cause marketing component of Indivisible – the bracelets, the tumblers and the coffee that fund getting America back to work – isn’t the message. But it is the message bearer of the important news Starbucks is rushing to deliver. Will we heed the alarm bell? Thanks to cause marketing, it rings every time we visit a Starbucks.
Tune in tomorrow for my second pick of marketing programs to celebrate on Independence Day.
