Ralph Lauren Launches Pink Pony Fund
Ralph Lauren Corp. is launching its latest Pink Pony Fund initiative with a social-media
campaign – and a hefty donation.
To help fight cancer, the brand will donate $10 every time someone shares their personal
message about wellness, encouragement or prevention, with a picture and the hashtag
#PinkPonyPromise, on Instagram, Twitter or ralphlauren.com this month. It is a way for
Ralph Lauren to get its social-media fans involved in the fight against cancer during
Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
The funds will go to the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention and the
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Lauren's goal is to reach $1 million in donations in the first few days. And he hopes that
by making the process as simple as possible – participants just need to write their promise
on a piece of paper and be photographed holding it – the initiative will go viral.
The company is encouraging the entire fashion industry, influencers in the digital space,
celebrities, and all others to help spread the Ralph Lauren will be following and tracking
posts daily and will donate an extra dollar or each friend (up to 5 friends) tagged in a
photo on Instagram or Twitter.
In the past, Pink Pony Fund money-raising events included benefit at Lincoln Center with
Oprah Winfrey, or online auction. "Instagram didn't exist then," Lauren said. "Those
things, at the time, were so high profile, but we didn't have the benefit of social media.
Now, we decided to just focus on social media. All you need is your mobile phone."