Can branded merchandise help make the difference between life and death?

Actually, yes.

The American Red Cross teamed up with Peanuts to create this tee, which is helping drive blood donations.

The American Red Cross tells ASI Media that blood donation appointments have surged in April since the launch of a branded T-shirt giveaway campaign. The shirt features a graphic of Joe Cool, the alter ego of Snoopy, the personality-filled canine from the iconic Peanuts comics. Joe leans on the Red Cross logo, under which is text that says “Be Cool. Give Blood.”  

People can only get the T-shirt if they donate blood to the Red Cross between April 1 and April 23. The tee has apparently proven a powerful catalyst, as blood donation appointments have soared. Indeed, nearly 27,000 more people than the Red Cross were expecting scheduled to give blood in the last week alone, Darren Irby, executive director of national brand partnerships at the American Red Cross, tells ASI Media.

“We are seeing not only great social media engagement across platforms but seeing that engagement turn into meaningful action,” Irby says. “In the last few days, we’ve seen a surge in traffic to our website and a more than 40% increase in blood donation appointments versus the week before the partnership – with a vast majority coming from organic search. Our donation appointments are up over 20% since last Monday in a year-over-year comparison.”

The Red Cross teamed up with “Peanuts” for an April blood drive, and a Snoopy T-shirt promoting the campaign has become an unexpectedly hot commodity online.

“They’re finally realizing we will do anything for merch,” a TikTok commenter wrote.https://t.co/vDYFs3fLjl

— The New York Times (@nytimes) April 11, 2023

As Irby alludes to, the shirt has caught fire on social media. The Red Cross teamed up with influencers to promote the T-shirt/donation campaign on TikTok and Instagram, but as The New York Times reported, the “videos from everyday TikTok users are the ones really going viral.”

That’s stoked widespread interest in donating, especially among Gen Zers, which the Red Cross has been keen to attract. As the Times reported, those young people include Cristina Perez, a 20-year-old college student, who saw the T-shirt on TikTok and immediately booked a blood donation appointment the next day. “I was like, I need this shirt,” she told the paper.

That’s music to Irby’s ears.

“Historically, we were able to introduce blood donation to younger audiences through high school and college blood drives,” Irby tells ASI Media. “However, this has been difficult over the past few years due to the pandemic. The Red Cross is thrilled that through this partnership with Peanuts we are able to introduce folks to this lifesaving act.”

“Through different promotions, we’ve found that sometimes an exclusive item, like a Joe Cool T-shirt, can provide just that little extra nudge that some folks need to get them to take action to roll up a sleeve to give blood.” Darren Irby, American Red Cross

Still, Irby emphasizes, it’s not just Gen Z and first-time donors who are digging the Joe Cool tee. The campaign also appears to be resonating with other generations and people who have donated blood previously.

“Being able to partner with Peanuts has been a nice way to have fun with our new and returning blood donors – especially after a hard few years,” Irby states. “What’s particularly great to see is the cross-generational appeal of Peanuts and how it’s inspiring adults who are familiar with our brand and blood mission and a new generation of blood donors who may be learning about blood donation for the first time through social media platforms.”

The Red Cross + Peanuts collaboration is part of what Irby describes as “a conscious marketing decision to tap into fan bases and inspire new donors by introducing blood donation through the lens of their existing interests and passion points.” Another such successful campaign – the Game of Thrones-themed “Bleed For The Throne” initiative with partner HBO in 2019 – also featured limited-time-offer branded merchandise that incentivized people to give blood and platelets.

“Over the years, through different promotions we’ve found that sometimes an exclusive item, like a Joe Cool T-shirt, can provide just that little extra nudge that some folks need to get them to take action to roll up a sleeve to give blood,” Irby tells ASI Media. “In our experience, if we can get folks to give at least once, they realize the donation process is not hard or scary. Most importantly, they like how they feel after completing their donation, knowing they’ve helped to save lives and are more likely to give again in the future.”

The American Red Cross began its civilian blood donation drives in the 1940s. The program helps build desperately needed blood supplies to save lives. A spokesperson for the nonprofit says it could not reveal the vendor it worked with to produce the shirts.

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