This Cool T-shirt is Driving People to Give Blood

Giving blood is cool, especially if you get a Snoopy T-shirt in return. A new partnership between The American Red Cross and Peanuts is giving donors T-shirts that feature Snoopy’s alter ego Joe Cool with the message, “Be Cool. Give Blood,” , reported CNN.  All you need to do is donate blood by April 23, 2023.

This is not the first time that the Red Cross has given away T-shirts but this one is the most successful. The Snoopy shirt is in so much demand that the organization is running out in many locations and issuing rain checks for future deliveries.

Going Viral
The impact of this T- shirt has been significant, especially on social media where it has gone viral. TikTok users have sparked young people to donate blood in droves.

Cathy Chang, @uh…o_o on TikTok posted a six-second video that had over 4 million views in a week, according to NBC News. She told NBC that she saw a video about the collaboration from another user and decided to make one of her own.

Chang was fearful of giving blood but really wanted the T-shirt. “If I see something cute and I don’t have to pay for it, I’m gonna go do whatever I need to do to get it,” she said.

Comments on her video showed how much the message really appealed to younger people who have not previously donated blood. “They’re finally realizing we will do anything for merch,” one person wrote. Another, “i literally skipped class to go donate blood to get my shirt.”

While the Red Cross has held blood drives at colleges and high schools to increase blood donations from young people, this campaign has really made the difference. By the second week of April, blood donations were up 40 percent from the previous week, Darren Irby, executive director of national brand partnerships at the American Red Cross told CNN.

Need for blood donations
This increase in donations is badly needed. The Red Cross , which provides 40 percent of the blood supply of the US, reported CNN, is facing the worst blood shortage in more than 10 years. Blood cannot be stored for a long period of time, so new donations are needed to replenish supplies.

Getting younger donors involved, could be the key to alleviating the shortage. “The Red Cross is thrilled that through this partnership we are able to introduce folks to this lifesaving act,” Irby said.

Chang told NBC that she is grateful that her video helped to spread the news about the T-shirt and the importance of giving blood. “I’m glad that this TikTok got a lot of attention because a lot of times, no one will go out of their way to search out where they can donate blood, but then they see this incentive on social media.”

The hope is that the younger generation will continue to do donate blood long after the promotion ends. After all, blood donation is truly the coolest good deed.