Photo courtesy of the American Red Cross
Would you roll up your sleeve and give a pint of blood for an ultra-exclusive Peanuts T-shirt? Apparently hundreds of Minnesotans would—and did.
This April, the American Red Cross partnered with the Peanuts in an effort to promote blood donations with the added incentive of a Joe Cool (AKA Snoopy's alter-ego) T-shirt for donors. The tee pictures Joe Cool nonchalantly leaning against the Red Cross logo, with text below him that reads, “Be cool. Give blood.” Charles Schulz, the cartoonist behind the Peanuts gang, was born in Minneapolis and lived in the Highland Park neighborhood of St. Paul.
The campaign exploded on social media, quickly becoming a viral sensation. A quick search on TikTok reveals hundreds of videos—from mostly Gen Zers—documenting their experiences donating blood. Following the explosive trend, outlets including the New York Times, CNN, and NBC picked up the story.
One video, with over one million views, is captioned “pov: you donated blood to get the red cross x snoopy shirt.”
Others shared their experiences getting over needle-phobia, or conquering their fears of giving blood, all for the merch. Now that the drive is over and the exclusive T-shirt is no longer available, some folks are selling their shirts on eBay for upwards of $200.
The campaign brought much-needed publicity to blood donation, according to the humanitarian organization. There was a 37 percent increase in donation appointments nationally compared to the same time last year, according to Sue Thesenga, the regional communications manager for the American Red Cross Minnesota and Dakotas Region. On a regional level, there was a 5 percent increase in donations, which translates to more than 1,000 additional donations in April compared to the month before.
“I think there’s a direct parallel,” Thesenga says. “The younger generation just loves these T-shirts. So we're seeing great social media engagement across all of our platforms, but it's also turning into meaningful action.”
In 2022, the American Red Cross declared its first-ever blood crisis, due to the Omicron variant of COVID-19. The threat of blood shortages remains constant. According to the Red Cross, 62 percent of the population is eligible to donate, but only 3 percent actually do. Thesenga hopes the Peanuts campaign taught younger blood donors about the importance of donating and encouraged some to become lifelong donors.
For additional information on where and how to donate blood, visit redcross.org. Stay tuned for future campaign announcements.
