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M&M’S® Brand
is on a mission to raise money and awareness – and lots of
laughter – for the first-ever U.S. Red Nose
Day campaign
by asking fans and consumers to make someone else laugh. And
every time you #MakeMLaugh,
you could help M&M’S make a difference.
Today, Mars
Chocolate North America announced that M&M’S, known for its
colorful chocolate candies and equally colorful sense of
humor, will kick off a new campaign called “#MakeMLaugh” to
support Red Nose Day as it debuts in the United States. This
integrated, socially driven campaign is one of many ways
M&M’S is partnering with Red Nose Day to rally America to
have fun, raise money and change lives. And it will kick off
with a fast-and-funny comedy event at the M&M’S WORLD® Store
in New York on Monday, May 11, featuring Saturday
Night Live star
and stand-up comedian Jay
Pharoah.
M&M’S designed the #MakeMLaugh
campaign to prompt people everywhere to make someone else
laugh and share that moment with the hashtag #MakeMLaugh.
The brand hopes to make a $1 million total donation to the
Red Nose Day Fund, which supports non-profit organizations
that help lift children and young people out of poverty in
the U.S. and overseas. M&M’S will kick-start the effort
with a $750,000 donation and are asking consumers to help
trigger the additional $250,000 of that total by using or
engaging with #MakeMLaugh. For
every engagement with #MakeMLaugh from May 11 to May 21,
M&M’S will donate $1 to the Red Nose Day Fund, up to
$250,000.
“The M&M’S® brand
and our beloved colorful characters make the world laugh
every day, so using our sense of humor to generate awareness
and donations for the Red Nose Day Fund is a natural way for
us to rally our enormous fan base around this great cause,”
said Lee Andrews, Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Mars
Chocolate North America. “Our goal is to raise tremendous
awareness and support for Red Nose Day, and to demonstrate
how fun fundraising can be.”
The
Funniest Five Minutes
Laughter will fuel the #MakeMLaugh campaign, so M&M’S is
kicking it off May 11 with a hilarious stand-up act where Saturday
Night Live star
and comic Jay Pharoah will try to generate as many laughs as
possible in five minutes. Fans are invited to join in the
fun at the store beginning at 11 a.m. ET or follow on
Twitter (@mmschocolate)
or Facebook (www.facebook.com/mms
).
Red Nose Day Arrives
The British charity organization behind Red Nose Day is
called Comic Relief, and it was co-created in 1985 by
Academy Award nominee and Emmy Award-winning writer-director
Richard Curtis (“Love Actually,” “Four Weddings and a
Funeral,” “Notting Hill”). Red Nose Day was launched in 1988
in the United Kingdom as a biennial fundraising campaign
built upon the foundation that mass media and celebrities
can help raise money and awareness of poverty to save and
change millions of lives. The Maltesers®Brand
in the U.K. has been proud partners with Red Nose Day since
2011 and has helped raise more than £3.5 million.
“After a wonderful
partnership with Mars in the U.K., it’s brilliant to have
the M&M’S Brand supporting the first Red Nose Day in the
U.S.,” said Amanda Horton-Mastin, Innovation Director, Comic
Relief. “We hope that consumers will enjoy the comedy and
fun that sit at the heart of both brands and will join in to
help transform children’s lives both in the U.S. and
internationally.”
The inaugural U.S. Red
Nose Day will be held on Thursday, May 21, 2015, supported
by M&M’S, NBC and Walgreens. Consumers are encouraged to
support Red Nose Day by purchasing one of the campaign’s
trademark red noses for $1 from Walgreens locations through
May 30, while supplies last, with proceeds benefiting the
Red Nose Day Fund.
The multi-week campaign
around Red Nose Day will culminate with a three-hour
entertainment and “fun-raising” event on NBC on Thursday,
May 21 (8-11 p.m. ET). Hollywood’s biggest stars including
Julia Roberts, Will Ferrell, Jodie Foster, Reese
Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston and more, are coming together
to have fun, raise money and change the lives of children
living in poverty in the U.S. and internationally. The live
benefit will feature great comedy, videos produced by Funny
Or Die and incredible music performances.
To learn more about #MakeMLaugh
and M&M’S Red Nose Day efforts, visit the M&M’S Facebook
page at
www.facebook.com/mms
the M&M’S Instagram page at www.istagram.com/mmschocolate
or follow the M&M’S Twitter handle (@mmschocolate).
About Mars, Incorporated
In 1911, Frank C. Mars made
the first Mars candies in his Tacoma, Washington kitchen and
established Mars’ first roots as a confectionery company.
In the 1920s, Forrest E. Mars, Sr. joined his father in
business and together they launched the MILKY WAY® bar.
In 1932, Forrest, Sr. moved to the United Kingdom with a
dream of building a business based on the objective of
creating a “mutuality of benefits for all stakeholders” –
this objective serves as the foundation of Mars,
Incorporated today. Based in McLean, Virginia, Mars has net
sales of more than $33 billion, six business segments
including Petcare, Chocolate, Wrigley, Food, Drinks,
Symbioscience, and more than 75,000 Associates worldwide
that are putting its Principles into action to make a
difference for people and the planet through its
performance.
For more information,
please visit www.mars.com.
Follow us:facebook.com/mars, twitter.com/marsglobal, youtube.com/mars,linkedin.com/company/mars.
About
Red Nose Day
Red Nose Day was created
to raise money to help children and young people living in
poverty in the United States and some of the poorest
communities around the world. The inaugural Red Nose Day
will be held on Thursday May 21, 2015. The day’s events
will culminate in a three-hour entertainment TV special on
NBC, featuring the country’s favorite comedians, musicians
and Hollywood stars. Money raised will go to the Red Nose
Day Fund, a program of Comic Relief, Inc., a registered
501(c)(3) public charity. The Red Nose Day Fund will
distribute the money raised by the Red Nose Day campaign to
charity partners whose work helps to achieve Comic Relief,
Inc.’s vision of a just world free from poverty.
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