There it was again this Thanksgiving, in tis cherished end zone spot in the home of the Cowboys, the familiar red kettles of The Salvation Army. It is a partnership that dates back decades, but remains one of the most unique in the NFL.
Why? Try finding another singular cause, or even a team-specific brand, that makes it on to the field in such a highly visible way, especially around the holidays.
There is none, and it is a great exception for the NFL and its ownership group that nets amazing exposure for the cause, especially off of such a devastating year with so many cutbacks due to the Pandemic.
What makes it even more unique is the tie to brand which gets unveiled during the Cowboys annual Thanksgiving Day game. This year the Cowboys and Salvation Army partnered with Ford for a national spot that gave James Brown, a 60 year old Air Force veteran, who was unemployed a new start on life with a job, and also a surprise visit from Cowboys’ players Ceedee Lamb and Trevon Diggs inviting him to the Thanksgiving Day game as the start of a new beginning.
The Red Kettles in the end zone have had a place in NFL lore for years. Ezekiel Elliott once caused a social media stir when he jumped into the Salvation Army kettles while the Seahawks Justin Coleman mimicked the leap during Seattle’s win at Dallas later in the 2017 season. Other brands like Tostitos and Dak Prescott also have been involved over the years which tapped into cause marketing dollars as well as traditional sponsorship.
Tostitos, a Pepsi brand, made a donation for every bag of its new Yellow Corn Bite Size tortilla chips purchased from mid-November until the end of that year, up to $500,000, to support local Salvation Army chapters. The program gave everyone a chance to “chip in” across the country through the holidays and was a very different spin for the Salvation Army to raise funds away from their usual work on the streets.
In reality, the Jones family relationship has driven over $2 BILLION for the Salvation Army since the partnership was started in the 1990’s by Cowboys Executive Vice President Charlotte Jones Anderson, as a result of some of the negative stories that had arisen off of some of the off-field actions by Cowboys players. The result was a longstanding cause based partnership that has kicked off every year with a Thanksgiving game concert, and hours of special events for awareness in and around Texas and a national platform like never before.
A great example for best practices tying key factors; a national partner, an elite team, a recognizable athlete, and a massive media play, together to score for all, especially the charity at a time of year when cutting through the clutter is not easy.
