• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, October 30, 2013

As part of its ongoing efforts to get kids moving more, the National Football League is asking kids to not just move, but compete with some end zone-worthy style. Its “Make Your Move” effort, part of the Fuel Up to Play 60 effort to encourage kids to eat well and be active at least 60 minutes a day, the new push focuses on  dance-a-thons and in-class dance breaks. 

When students and schools register at the initiative's website, they can earn points, NFL prizes and grants, funded by the Quaker. They can also upload videos of their own dance moves for the chance to win grants for their school. 

Four players—Alfred Morris of the Washington Redskins, Corey Wootton of the Chicago Bears, and Steve Smith and Luke Kuechly of the Carolina Panthers—bravely boogie in the videos. And Indianapolis Colts’ Andrew Luck, who will judge the winning videos, also makes an appearance.

Like the NFL Play 60 effort, which has won awards for its strong messaging, it makes sense for this effort to involve multiple brands, says Craig Bida, EVP at Cone Communications, which has researched the effectiveness of cause-related marketing. “Both companies and nonprofits benefit when the partnership is right,” he tells Marketing Daily. “Just as the company gains from the right brand association, it works the other way too. Groups like this one do better when they associate with trusted corporate names.”

And for Quaker parent PepsiCo, best known for the soft drinks which pediatricians say are a leading cause of obesity, it makes sense to take a lower-key role in a multi-brand effort, as opposed to spearheading initiatives. “It's more nuanced,” says Bida.

Besides, he says, “some of these problems, like childhood obesity, are big enough that they require more than just one company. And this is a big challenge, to say, ‘We’re going to help kids move before school, during school, after school, and all around the clock.’ Having more brands, and people, involved is what’s required to make such a large scale change.”

Fuel Up to Play 60, which is a partnership of the NFL and National Dairy Council, says it is now working with more than 73,000 schools, making it the nation's largest in-school wellness program.