Lemonade stands are synonymous with summer in America. Selling refreshing glasses of homemade lemonade is the hallmark tradition of an American childhood.
Yet archaic permits are plaguing the plucky young entrepreneurs and quashing their summertime venture – and it’s not just restricted to the US. Remember last summer, when a five-year-old girl was given a hefty fine for setting up a stall selling the drink in East London? The child’s father said, “Americans would not stand for the spirit of free enterprise being throttled in someone so young.”
A year later and American drinks brand, Country Time Lemonade, owned by Kraft Heinz, is taking a stand and helping the budding young lemonade entrepreneurs with a new altruistic campaign.
Named ‘Legal-ade’, the campaign involves a crack team of specialists to help pay fines and straighten out stand-related permits. The initiative will cover all fees up to $300 for stands that were thwarted by fines in 2017 and 2018 or for permits bought this year.
In a clever move to help build brand love, Country Time set up a dedicated microsite for the initiative which states “Life doesn’t always give you lemons, but when it does, you should be able to make and share lemonade with the neighbourhood without legal implications. That’s why we’re here to take a stand for lemonade stands across the nation.”
Any child fined for running a lemonade stand without a permit can have his or her parent apply for reimbursement. Parents simply upload the image of their child’s permit or fine along with an explanation about what the lemonade stand means to their children.
The brand is positioned on its social channels as ‘the official lemonade of lemonade stands’ and says on its YouTube channel that Legal-Ade makes “sure no kid is denied their right to a lemonade stand.”
To extend and amplify the campaign on social media, Country Time has launched a competition to encourage people to share photos of their lemonade stands using the hashtag #SaveLemonadeStands. The brand has also increased engagement with posts that offer to donate $1 for every retweet towards a child’s permit fee next year.
By showing support and unified spirit with its young consumers, the campaign has achieved worldwide media coverage including Fox News, CNN, Yahoo and MSN amongst others.
The number of stories in the world’s media about children being fined, is what inspired Kraft Heinz to launch the campaign. Adam Butler, general manager, tells CNN: “When we saw these stories about lemonade stands being shut down for legal reasons, we thought it had to be an urban myth. After looking into it and seeing even more instances, we realised these weren’t myths, they were real stories. A very real response seemed the best way to shine a light on the issue.”
Another brand which has championed a cause close to its heart with a clever experiential campaign is Lacoste. The sportswear brand wore its heart on its sleeve and generated plenty of headlines and positive publicity with its limited edition brand campaign to help endangered species.
Find out how we at Because are also giving back to some very good causes this year to make a positive change in our communities and around the world.