• by Tanya Gazdik , April 29, 2010

Western Union is launching a campaign urging people to give mom the perfect gift: cash.

Themed "Return the love," the national effort includes partnerships with Grammy Award-winning recording artist Wyclef Jean, and "Queen of Latin Pop" Paulina Rubio. With Western Union as the sponsor, the musicians will give special performances and appearances at the Billboard Latin Music Conference & Awards and a concert honoring military moms.

The multifaceted promo is featured prominently on Western Union's Web site and includes a picture of a mom hugging a little girl with the copy: "Mom gave you 8,368 hugs. Return the love." Web visitors are invited to "send your mom a Western Union Visa gift card for just a $5 fee" or to "send $50 for as little as a $5 fee."

Consumers are invited to submit a photo of themselves and their mother on Western Union's Flickr page for a chance to be featured on the Western Union home page. Submitted photos can be viewed at westernunion.com/love. Western Union also is dedicating a tab on its Facebook page encouraging fans to share how they are honoring and celebrating their moms.

The campaign also includes ads via print, broadcast, radio, out-of-home, mobile and online channels.

More than 40% of moms admit to pretending to like their Mother's Day gifts, according to a recent Western Union consumer survey, and 30% thought the gift was either "thoughtful" but not a gift they wanted, or they did not receive a gift at all. About 70% of consumers are planning to give a Mother's Day gift this year.