Fruit of the Loom is all about comfort. So during the 2019 holidays, we partnered with Detroit-Based “Humble Design” – a non-profit that furnishes homes for families transitioning out of homeless and domestic-violence shelters into Section-8 housing.
The effectiveness of Humble Design’s contribution is staggering. On average, 50% of families who make this transition will end up back in shelters. But with Humble’s help, approximately 99% of families stay housed for good.
As part of the effort, we traveled to Detroit and Seattle to tell the stories of two families in transition, and for every item customers purchased on fruit.com during the holiday the company made a donation to Humble. It’s a partnership we all hope will last.
Dietary sodium is a tricky thing to talk about. Getting the right amount of sodium is essential to life, but the average American diet contains dangerous amounts.
A high-sodium diet is a major contributor to high blood pressure, heart disease, and in turn, death. The culprits are everywhere –processed foods, soups, cereal, cheese – did you know BREAD is the single biggest contributor of sodium in the American diet?
With the Milligrammy Awards, the Center for Science in the Public Interest wanted to shine a light on the absurd amounts of sodium in fast and fast-casual menu items. In many cases, the dishes that might seem most innocuous are packed with more than twice the daily recommended sodium intake. Just ONE meal could have more sodium than you should eat in 2 days.
The FDA has proposed safe sodium limits, the food industry and restaurant associations are currently fighting those restrictions. So for now, it’s up to consumers to educate themselves.
When people go to Target, it’s often because they’ve accumulated a long list of things they need (and some things they don’t need). This campaign is designed to remind guests that if you want everyday low prices on everyday essentials, make it a Target Run. And Done.
Thanks to my dear friends at 72 and Sunny LA (and my new friends at Target) for inviting me to help bring this work to life.
As President Barack Obama exits office, he’ll turn much of his focus to his My Brother’s Keeper initiative – a program designed to close the achievement and opportunity gaps among young men and boys of color through mentorship.
In the wake of the 2016 Academy Awards and the #OscarSoWhite controversy, the President saw an opportunity to demonstrate the need to believe in the future successes of young black men not only in the film industry, but in all sorts of endeavors.
We created this film together with friends at Matter Unilimited, Getty Images, and DECON to run on the MTV Movie Awards.
Please, if you’re reading this and want to get involved or just learn more, visit IAMMBK.ORG
2020 On-Site Optometry is a Boston-Based Startup that provides high-tech mobile optometric services for businesses.
They came to us looking for some testimonial films from their clients and customers to be featured on their website. But we had another idea: Why not talk to the real beneficiaries of their services? Let’s hear it from the satisf-eyed eyes!
Together with director Dillon Buss of production company Minder and a handful of his art-school friends, we put together these Eye-Test-Imonials on a shoestring (and captured the real client testimonials, too). Special thanks to our friends at 2020 On-Site Optometry for having the courage to have some fun in a space that often doesn’t.
In 2015, as the American media stirred controversy over the lack of Christmas imagery on Starbucks red cups, the coffee company was preparing to introduce its perennially-anticipated Christmas Blend for the 31st year in a row. Indeed, before Starbucks created Christmas Blend in 1984, Christmas coffee wasn’t even a thing.
To celebrate Christmas Blend Vintage 2015 we traveled to the original Starbucks store at 1912 Pike Place in Seattle, invited some customers to join us for an exclusive private cupping, and spoke to Howard Schultz and his master blenders and roasters about what makes this coffee special.
I was extremely stoked to partner with my new friends at 72 and Sunny on this project.
Imagine you’re standing in Starbucks at that little counter where you add cream and sweetener (what do they call that counter?) and the person in front of you has a Grande. Not a Venti, just a little 12-ouncer. The person proceeds to tear open sugar packets – first 1, then 4, then 10 packets – and dumps them each into the coffee.
Extreme? Well, that’s how much sugar in a 12-ounce can of soda. It increases your risk of obesity and type-2 diabetes and more. And yet soda companies spend BILLIONS of dollars a year marketing their products as “happiness.” We’re not buying that load of sugar.
Coca-Cola created their iconic “Hilltop,” ad in 1971, and in 2015, it was given a cultural shot in the arm when it was featured on the series finale of Mad Men. But in the 44 years since the original ad aired, sugary beverages have home from being a sometimes treat to being the #1 SOURCE OF CALORIES in the American diet. Think about that.
This film for the Center for Science in the Public Interest was created to spread that truth and #changethetune
In 2009, in the midst of the Great Recession, the company I was working for announced a plan for implementing pay cuts across the entire staff as a way to stem the layoffs they’d been forced to make. The plan was genuinely well-conceived, but it would definitely require some belt-cinching.
It was spring, and I’d just finished the Boston Marathon, so I was feeling some good fitness momentum. And as it so happened, one of our two car leases was about to expire. I texted my wife, just after the company announcement, and told her I didn’t want to get another car. I wanted to get a bike and ride it until the Boston weather prevented it.
And so I rode all spring and summer, 11.1 miles each way from my home in Lexington, Massachusetts into Boston’s Back Bay. And I completely fell in love with it. Fresh air. Great exercise. No sitting in traffic. No fossil fuel emissions. Not to mention no car payment, gas costs, parking fees, insurance – there are countless reasons to commute by bicycle, and I loved them all.
Then one day in October, while riding in, I met another rider named Bill. Bill pulled up alongside me and asked if I knew how to get to Longwood Medical Center. I noticed he had a cast on his left arm, and he told me he was headed to get it removed. Ironically, he’d broken it when his bike hit a pothole. I told him he could follow me to Harvard Square, and I could show him the way from there.
So we rode for several more miles. He had an old Fuji single-speed, and he was a really strong rider. He was also chatty, and forced me to keep up with his conversation while hammering all the way. Turns out we had a weird amount in common. He was in marketing, I was in advertising. He lived for years in Mill Valley, California, the town from which my family and I had most recently moved. He also worked for the Coors company during a short period when my agency had them as a client. And while working for them, had lived in Boulder, which is the town to which my former agency, CP+B, had re-located.
Then at some point he asked if I’d ever ridden all through the winter. I told him I’d just started riding, and he proceeded to tell me how to go about doing it, should I choose to – what gear, what tires, what routes, etc.
I thought about it all day, and that evening, announced my intentions to my wife: I was going to gear up and take on the winter with two wheels. It would be an adventure! Like training for the Marathon had been. Maybe I’d blog about it!
The following morning, in the middle of October, it snowed. It was as if nature was reminding me what I’d signed on for. Undeterred, I set out, and I haven’t stopped yet. Six years later, we’re still a suburban family with only one car – a statistical oddity to be certain. And if can be avoided, I’ll never own a second car again.
Granted, I’ve worked primarily from home since January of 2014, but since ’09, I reckon I’ve ridden well over 40,000 miles just commuting alone. My bicycle is still how I get almost everywhere I need to go. I have some clients who’ve never even seen me without bike tights on!
My ride always offers something new. Twice a day, every day, It gives me some funny, interesting, or death-defying story to share, but what I don’t share about it is what I love most. Twice a day, every day, my ride is all mine.
Most people who donate to thrift don’t realize what happens to their items when they do. Often, they’re bundled indiscriminately and shipped overseas for dimes on the pound.
Boston-based startup, Fashion Project saw an opportunity to disrupt this model for the benefit of both donors and charitable organizations. Items donated to Fashion Project are assigned an accurate market value based on designer, brand, wear and other factors. On average, those items can earn about 100X more than they would at thrift stores, and 55% of the net proceeds go directly to the charity of your choice. Any charity of your choice.
