Speeding Toward Hunger’s Finish Line

Campaign: Speeding Toward Hunger’s Finish Line
Company: Zynga
Nonprofit Partner: AARP Foundation
Launch Date: August 24, 2012

Campaign Description:

In a new cause marketing partnership, for a limited time, players of Zynga’s FarmVille will be able to boost their scores and improve their harvests while helping the nearly 9 million older Americans who face the risk of hunger. Players can purchase exclusive, limited edition Drive to End Hunger in-game virtual goods such as a Drive to End Hunger Tractor driven by a classic FarmVille pig and a A Drive to End Hunger Grocery Tree. Zynga and Facebook will donate all proceeds from the sale of these in-game virtual goods to AARP Foundation in support of Drive to End Hunger. As part of this partnership, FarmVille characters appeared on Jeff Gordon’s No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet this past weekend at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Our Take:

Zynga pioneered the use of virtual goods for a cause, as we explored in our recent whitepaper, The Gamification of Cause Marketing. This latest alliance with the AARP Foundation demonstrates the power of a multi-layered partnership. The AARP ‘Drive to End Hunger’ sponsorship of the No. 24 car was NASCAR’s first primary cause-based sponsorship. Leveraging this sponsorship, the AARP Foundation was able to provide FarmVille with prime real estate at a NASCAR event, elevating both the social game and the cause in a unique way.