Thousands of beer coasters made their debuts Sunday as advertisements for organ donor cards. The slogan sported by the coasters, "We'll forgo the liver – the rest can save lives", is aimed at drumming up youthful interest in organ donation.
The coasters are being produced by Bottom Line Media, a PR firm specializing in young adult audiences, and especially beer coaster ads.
Tzadok and Kregitch (Photo: Or Marx)
The brains behind the initiative, Roni Tzadok and Leonid Kregitch, said the coasters were an exercise in demonstrating the power of advertisement. "We were looking for a voluntary project and to advertise something with social significance that we believe in," Tzadok says.
The two entrepreneurs turned to the National Transplant and Organ Donations Center (ADI) for support, which they received. Then they went on to launch a competition on Facebook in order to come up with a design and slogan for the coaster campaign.
"Almost 600 offers came in, and from those we chose four finalists," Tzadok recounted. They put it to a vote among internet users, and were pleased with the result. "We believe this kind of light approach can appeal to our target audience and help them to make the right choice," he added.
Tzadok was surprised to discover, upon meeting the winner of the slogan competition, that his father was awaiting a kidney transplant.
"That meeting really accentuated the need that was so clear to us," Tzadok said. "Just 10% of the adult population has an ADI donor card and we believe that what stands between those waiting for a transplant and the donations depends on education and explanation. We want to change this with our beer coasters."
As for the coaster design, the image of Superman was the winner. "We hope the coasters will encourage youths to talk about the subject amongst themselves," Tzadok explained. "In a group dynamic, we believe there is a chance youths will choose to be active and sign."
Tzadok and Kregitch hope the campaign will encourage youths to send an SMS with the word 'life' to the number 4488. "We promise to get back to all of those who do, in order to explain the significance of the card and encourage them to sign on," Tzadok said.
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