Ben & Jerry’s Lets You ‘Donate’ Your Extra Twitter Characters to Charity

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REUTERS/Fred Prouser

Ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s, famed for its scrumptious and unique flavors, is now spreading its sustainable ethos through a unique social media campaign by asking users to donate their spare Twitter characters in honor of World Fair Trade Day on May 14.

Earlier this week, Ben & Jerry’s launched a Twitter application that squeezes a message and link about World Fair Trade Day in the leftover characters of one’s tweets. As documented in this video, if your tweet is 20 characters, the remaining 120 will contain a message about World Fair Trade Day and a link to more information. For users, it’s a simple way to spread awareness about a worthy cause, and a clever marketing tactic on Ben & Jerry’s end. Users can “fair tweet” from wherever they are online, including on smartphones and on Chrome or Firefox browsers.

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With the fair trade market worth a huge $1.3 billion, growing +43% year on year, it’s no wonder why Ben & Jerry’s opted for fair-trade product offerings.  Last year the company committed to producing ice cream made from 100% fair trade ingredients. Founder Jerry Greenfield explained at the time the logic behind the switch to ethical ingredients: “Fair trade is about making sure people get their fair share of the pie. The whole concept of fair trade goes to the heart of our values and sense of right and wrong. Nobody wants to buy something that was made by exploiting somebody else.” (via Mashable)

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