If you do a good deed solely for the reward, does it really count?

It’s an age-old debate, and one I’ve been pondering since I started seeing pink products everywhere in tribute of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I confess: long before I became a copywriter, cause marketing has always stirred up my cynical side.

Why? ’Cause Of Profits

Take Yoplait’s “Save Lids to Save Lives” campaign. For every pink yogurt lid you save and send to Yoplait, the company will donate a dime to Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Let’s not forget that a stamp costs 42 cents, with 17 cents for each additional ounce. Wouldn’t it be more cost-effective to just send a check?

Not for Yoplait, which is banking on the hope that when faced with various brands, women will choose the yogurt that donates a little something to charity over one that doesn’t. And that’s not a bad thing. But let’s not forget that Yoplait is getting a sweet little sales boost for its efforts.

When Cause Marketing Becomes Cause For Concern

Then there’s the Red Campaign, with its glut of celebrity endorsements and product placements. In theory, the Red Campaign is brilliant. It takes two things Americans love (consumerism and celebrities), then puts them to work raising money for HIV and AIDS.

Only one problem: the campaign spent $100 million on marketing in its first year to raise a paltry $18 million in return. As Ben Davis, co-creator of buylesscrap.org says, “The Red campaign proposes consumption as the cure to the world’s evils. Can’t we just focus on the real solution – giving money?”

Women In Cause Marketing

Granted, some people take a different perspective on cause marketing. A recent article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer profiles woman business owner Jean Thompson, who decided to donate profits from one of her best-selling products to women’s cancer charities after having a cancer scare herself.

In this case, the above question doesn’t really apply. Not if you believe, as I did after reading the article, that Jean Thompson wasn’t simply after a bump in sales. In fact, the article made me wonder if cause marketing could be a way for women business owners to feel better about marketing – and use their efforts to give back.

I don’t have any experience in this, but perhaps it’s an idea worth exploring. What are your thoughts on cause marketing?  I’d love to read them. Leave your opinion in the comments section below.