The recent trend all over social media platforms believe it or not is, The Red Cross. Donating blood has become the new trend among teenagers and young adults. What has sparked this trend you may ask, is a trendy t-shirt featuring Snoopy from the infamous Pentus cartoon along with the slogan, “Be Cool. Give Blood.” The only way one can attain this cool shirt is to give blood. Various social media posts have been made about people overcoming their fear of needles and even almost passing out in order to be the new owner of a limited-edition red cross shirt. 

Although this may seem ridiculous to some, this is genius marketing that benefits everyone involved. The general public is now informed about the process of donating blood and is encouraged by their peers to join in the trend.  The people generously donate benefits because their actions are saving countless lives, one pint of blood can save up to 3 lives. Not to mention, they get a very cool t-shirt to commemorate their bravery in being poked. This is also very beneficial to The Red Cross, their site traffic has seen a major increase, of almost 55% when compared to the last 6 months. This genius marketing and social media algorithm and trends is a good strategy to benefit people and businesses. The new trend is to make a video of the donation process and a clip of receiving your brand-new shirt. 

Personally, I think this is a great idea. Donating blood is a great way to give back to the community and help people who are in need, quite literally saving lives. Although needles can be scary and donating blood can be a terrifying task, by incentivizing a cool reward, people feel very inclined. This marketing tactic has emphasized the importance of donating blood and made an entire generation excited to give back to people in need. If any of you are interested in donating blood to receive a very trendy snoopy t-shirt, the red cross will be in town now and for the next few weeks. From now until May 5th, The Red Cross will periodically be at churches across town. In order to make an appointment to donate blood you can search “redcrossblod.org” by typing in the area code (67846) and find a day you are available to schedule an appointment!