Hanes T-Shirt Contest Seeks Passionately Pink Designs

By Guest Blogger, Donna DeClemente, Donna's Promo Talk

Well the calendar just recently turned to September and we now have the unofficial end of summer with the passing of Labor Day weekend. But we're already seeing some Pink as we get closer to October which of course is Breast Cancer Awareness month.

Many big brands have become supporters in one way or another to help create awareness and raise funds for breast cancer research. Hanes is the apparel sponsor of Passionately Pink for the Cure and this year is running a T-shirt design contest to benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure which includes a $250,000 cash and in-kind donation.

The T-shirt designs can be created at Hanes Pink, a promotional website specifically dedicated to this campaign and strives to inspire people to support breast cancer awareness and research. There are a variety of easy-to-use tools and graphics for participant to create their designs with a demo to help get started. A text function allows users to send friends and family a message and personal note.

Each week throughout the contest the first 30 participants will receive a T-shirt from actress Sarah Chalke,  star of the television show "Scrubs" and a Hanes’s spokesperson. Sarah helped launch the contest with her own Hanes T-shirt design which includes the words "courage and strength" above her signature and features pink hearts alongside the iconic pink ribbon for breast cancer awareness. Public service announcements about breast cancer awareness featuring Sarah began airing in July.

The contest runs for 12 weeks through Oct. 26 where one finalist a week will be selected who receives a $100 Hanes gift card. Each of these 12 finalists will be featured on the website and visitors can vote for their favorites. One grand-prize winner will receive a $250 Hanes gift card and a screen-printed copy of the winning T-shirt design.

As of today the finalists from the first three weeks of the contest are featured on the website and a total of over 4200 designs have been submitted. For those that would like to participant without taking the time to design a shirt they can just enter the weekly sweepstakes for a chance to win a $100 Hanes gift card.

As part of the deal Hanes will make a $5,000 donation in the grand-prize winner's name to his or her choice of Susan G. Komen for the Cure local affiliate or Komen global headquarters. Hanes has also developed a mobile text message campaign where people can text PINK to 90999 to donate $5.00. They also have the social bookmarking AddThis featured on the site so it's really easy for visitors to spread the word.

Hanes.com is now offering for sale a special pink collection of panties, bras, socks and graphic tees including the T-shirt exclusively designed by Sarah Chalke.

My mom is battling breast cancer right now so this is a cause very near and dear to me. So I will tend to write more and more about marketing promotions that support breast cancer awareness as we move into October. If you have one that you're involved in and would like me to feature it please feel free to add a comment here and I'll contact you directly.

Comments

[Custom T-Shirts]

Found a website where you can find some good t-shirts...Check out the trendy designs at http://www.lovethoseshirts.com it’s easy to browse and even customize design of a shirt of your choice. Check out yourself.

[Donna]

Thanks Stephanie for sharing your story. I visited www.thinkpinkrocks.com and I now have been counted. You have 1,925 visitors as of this morning. Good luck with the charity concert on Oct. 3rd. Sounds like a great time. My prayers are with you.

Thanks Jack for sharing Leigh’s video. She is definitely inspiring. I’ll have to buy a few t-shirts for my sisters and I.

Since I wrote this post and shared it on Facebook I’ve gotten my sister, Frances, to create a t-shirt designs. It's #4315. So please vote for her if you visit the gallery. Thanks.

[Stephanie Robin]

Thank you for sharing such valuable information. This cause is very dear to me as well. My name is Stephanie Robin and I am fighting Stage IV Metastatic Breast Cancer and have been sharing my story through my organization, THINK PINK. Each day I am amazed at the number of people I meet who have never heard of the Breast Cancer Gene (BRCA). I am on a mission to spread the word and help as many men and women as possible. Had I known about the BRCA gene, the past five years of my life may not have consisted of many grueling chemotherapy treatments and painful surgeries, let alone the daily fear of my children losing their mommy long before I had a chance to raise them. My THINK PINK team and I have a lofty goal to collect ONE MILLION clicks by Dec. 31, 2009. I invite you and your readers to help me in my mission – a simple click is all it takes!!! Please visit www.thinkpinkrocks.com and click to be counted and acknowledge that you now have the information that could save your life. Please share this link with your friends and family. It’s too important not to. Thank you XOXO.

[Jack]

On a related note, here's the interesting and inspiring story of a woman making a difference in the fight against breast cancer -- www.ahamoment.com/pg/moments/view/3976 -- her "aha moment" led her to launch a t-shirt company at feelyourboobies.com. Hope you enjoy the video.

Thanks,
jack@ahamoment.com