“For 4 years, Saw has been dedicated to drawing your blood. This year, we want more of it.”
That’s the intro line in a new PSA from the American Red Cross and the creators of the Saw movie franchise, Lion’s Gate. It’s the 4th annual Halloween blood drive from the teams from horror flick Saw and the American Red Cross. Each year, the Red Cross partners with Saw creators to motivate people to donate blood.
This year, Saw star Tobin Bell (who I’ve loved for his creepiness since he appeared in an episode of The X Files years ago) did a public service announcement that is both serious and funny. It’s a clever mix that works well to boost awareness. So far the American Red Cross and Saw partnership has gotten about 80,000 pints of blood donations as a result of the campaign. That equates to nearly a quarter of a million saved lives!
Check out the PSA by following the link above. What do you think of it? Which brand does the partnership help more?
Hat tip to The Brand Elastic for this story.
Image: American Red Cross Oregon Trail Chapter Blog
Susan Gunelius
Susan Gunelius is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc. and Founder & Editor in Chief of an award-winning blog, WomenOnBusiness.com. She is a 25-year veteran of the marketing field and has authored 10 books about marketing, branding, and social media, including the highly popular 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing for Dummies, Blogging All-in-One for Dummies and Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps. Susan’s marketing-related content can be found on Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, and more. Susan is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She has worked in corporate marketing roles and through client relationships with AT&T, HSBC, Citibank, Intuit, The New York Times, Cox Communications, and many more large and small companies around the world. Susan also speaks about marketing, branding and social media at events around the world and is frequently interviewed by television, online, radio, and print media organizations about these topics. She holds an MBA in Management and Strategy and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing.
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Follow-on partnerships with the swathe of vampire movies/shows out (True Blood) or coming soon (Twilight, Castlevania, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, etc.) would be quite apropos and probably even more effective for the Red Cross.
Scott, that’s not a bad idea!