Commentary
Agency Uses Ad Medium To Give Back
- by Amy Corr , Staff Writer @MediaPostOTL, December 1, 2008
Last year, in an effort to commemorate its 15th anniversary, TAXI developed The 15 Below Jacket project. TAXI chief creative officer and chairman Paul Lavoie challenged employees to come up with an in-house idea that gives back to the community.
Executive creative director Steve Mykolyn came up with the idea, and Canadian designer Lida Baday designed the jacket that withstands temperatures of 15 below Celsius.
The jacket has pockets in the hood, chest, back and sleeves where old newspapers, made into balls, are stuffed and operate as the lining. The fabric is both waterproof and windproof and can be worn as a raincoat when the stuffing is removed. And yes, the coats were tested in meat lockers to ensure their durability.
Three thousand jackets were created, to be distributed this winter, and were paid for using money that would have
gone toward holiday gifts for clients and employees.Coat distribution began Nov. 22; TAXI employees, along with The Salvation Army of Canada, gave away jackets in Toronto. Jackets will also be dispensed in Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary, cities where TAXI has offices.
In addition to the jackets, TAXI is raising money for The Salvation Army of Canada by auctioning off fifteen 15 Below jackets on eBay Canada, signed by celebrities like Kim Cattrall, Nelly Furtado, Jon Stewart and "The Daily Show" cast, Robert Plant, Kid Rock, R.E.M. and Sir Elton John.
Each celebrity picked a personalized gift to place in his or her autographed jacket. So, for example, the highest bidder for Kim Catrall's jacket will also receive a "Sex and the City" script signed by all four cast members -- and the winning bidder for the R.E.M coat gets a signed first edition of the group's book "Hello."
TAXI is also looking for a corporate sponsor to keep this project up and running following the distribution of 3,000 coats. The agency has fielded requests for coats from organizations worldwide.
Amy Corr is managing editor, online newsletters for MediaPost. She can be reached at amyc@mediapost.com.
I think this is a wonderful and creative idea that involves everyone at a company in a really positive way. TAXI's idea inspires not only those who are internally involved but those of us on the outside as well.
I hope other creative groups such as TAXI use this as an example of creating projects like this that employees can take pride in, use their talents for, inspire others and help those in need.