If you’re a baseball fan who loves good food and hates cancer, then MasterCard’s new “Dig In and Do Good” campaign should be right in your wheelhouse. Last night, at an event at the MLB Fan Cave in New York City, MasterCard and Stand Up 2 Cancer launched this new campaign with the help of renowned Chef Marcus Samuelsson, celebrities Ethan Zohn, Ashley Hebert, J.P. Rosenbaum and former Met and Yankee great Dwight “Doc” Gooden.
As part of the new program which launches today, each time a cardholder spends $10 or more when dining out or ordering in and pay with their MasterCard through September 28, 2013, MasterCard will donate one cent to Stand Up To Cancer, up to $4 million. Three previous campaigns have raised $12 million for research.
The “Dig In and Do Good” program is designed to engage baseball fans and all cardholders to become actively involved in the fight against cancer simply by using their MasterCard to pay for meals. It requires no additional action on behalf of cardholders other than the decision to use the card to help fund SU2C’s groundbreaking research.
“Everybody here will be affected by cancer,” said Rusty Robertson, co-founder of Stand Up 2 Cancer, who lost her mother to lung cancer. “1500 people a day die of cancer. This is all about bringing people together to do good.”
MasterCard, a longtime sponsor of Major League Baseball dating back to 1997, chose to hold the event at the Fan Cave on the eve of the weekend leading up to the 2013 All-Star Game to be played at Citi Field, the home of the Mets.
In keeping with the baseball theme of the evening, MasterCard provided a sneak preview of three new commercials that will debut during the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game broadcasts. Two of the ads feature some surprising “celebrity” spokespeople — two iconic team mascots, the Mets’ Mr. Met and the Phillies’ Phillie Phanatic.
In one spot that the crowd (okay maybe by crowd I meant “me”) really enjoyed, Mr. Met and the Phanatic think back on all the pranks and tricks the longtime rivals have played on one another. At the end, the two decide to set aside their rivalry and have a meal together.
“Bringing people together to do good? Priceless.”
Enjoying delicious food while fighting cancer? Sounds like a home run to me.
For more information on Stand Up 2 Cancer, visit its website.
Photo via Amanda Rykoff
