In 2022, the world was facing one of the worst blood shortages in over a decade. The previous year, over 37,000 blood drives had been canceled and numerous college campuses had been shut down, making it nearly impossible to reach a crucial source for blood donations – Gen Z.
We partnered with The American Red Cross with a campaign “Drop For Drop,” aimed at engaging young people by offering them the opportunity to receive limited edition merch drops from legendary streetwear designers. During a two city, three day blood drive, The American Red Cross gave each Gen Z donor a piece of highly coveted merch in exchange for a pint of blood.
We worked with three iconic streetwear designers to make this happen. Eric Emanuel, deemed “The King of Mesh” for his iconic mesh shorts worn by the NBA, MLB and Adidas, adapted a red pair of his shorts with the American Red Cross logo. Warren Lotas, known for his work with the NBA and the NFL, designed a shirt incorporating The American Red Cross’s logo into his famous design style. And, New York Sunshine, known for their work with Nike, Adidas and Dickies, created a long sleeve shirt with the American Red Cross logo and their infamous NYS blade.
Blood donation pop-up sites took place August 4th and 5th 2022 in New York City and August 11th in Los Angeles. Out of home was utilized in LA and social influencers were tapped in both markets.
The campaign was covered in a number of publications including Complex, Highsnobiety and Hypebeast, leading to an estimated organic reach of 20.5MM impressions over the course of the three days. Over just those three days, The American Red Cross collected enough blood to save over 1,000 lives, with 84% of donations being from first time donors.
