• by Karl Greenberg , July 11, 2014

Gillette is giving shaves at Monday’s Gillette Home Run Derby, but it is also giving money. The event has traditionally had a charity component where each home run means a donation by MLB and the game's sponsor. Charities like Boys and Girls Clubs and MLB Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) benefit. 

The P&G grooming brand is adding something to its title sponsorship of the event, which happens this Monday at Target Field in Minneapolis. It will link the charity component to literal product placement of its Fusion ProGlide with FlexBall razor. Gillette will have two LED “Hit It Here” targets featuring an image of the #FlexBall: one in left-center and the second in right-center field, per the P&G brand.  

If either target is hit during the Derby by one of the participants, the baseball league and Gillette will give a one-time donation of $300,000 from Gillette. The company says the goal is to beat the $615,000 number set in 2012.

There is also a custom orange "#FlexBall" baseball that will be introduced toward the end of each participant’s at-bat. Each time a participant hits a home run with the orange ball  $10,000 goes to charity. Gillette and MLB will combine to make an additional donation of $5,000 for every non-FlexBall home run hit throughout the program, per the company.

As for the free shaves, Gillette will offer them, performed of course with the new razor, at a "#FlexBall Grooming Lounge" on the centerfield concourse. At T-Mobile All-Star FanFest during MLB All-Star Week, the brand will have a batting set-up with an orange #FlexBall dangling prizes like tickets to the game, products and coupons.

On social media, Gillette is activating on Twitter @MLB with #FlexBall and #HRDerby hashtags. People who tweet are entered for giveaways. 

Gillette, which has the longest consistent sponsorship relationship in sports, signed on as an MLB sponsor for the 1939 World Series. The company says its  ads featuring MLB players date back to at least 1910. Gillette will also benefit from in-game coverage as the Home Run Derby airs on ESPN, ESPN HD, ESPN Deportes, WatchESPN and ESPN Radio and ESPN International as well as MLB digital properties.