$500,000 donation

DFO BRINGS HOLIDAY CHEER TO CHILDREN IN HOSPITAL WITH MILK & COOKIES CAMPAIGN

Ontario farmers donate $500,000 to four children’s hospitals throughout Ontario

USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO SHOW SUPPORT FOR ONTARIO CHILDREN’S HOSPITALS

This holiday season, Dairy Farmers of Ontario (DFO) is once again donating $500,000 to SickKids and other Ontario children’s hospitals and calling on all Ontarians to join in and be a part of this important and heartfelt initiative.

This year’s campaign is completely owned and run by DFO and features a new text-tofill prompt with milk and cookie emojis people can use to share messages of love and support for kids in hospitals. The campaign kicked off on Nov. 29 with a TV commercial that includes milk and homemade cookies moments, more dairy cues and a cookie-baking scene that reflects consumer behaviour on holiday baking—all while retaining the feel and tone of the original TV commercial.

This is the third year for the popular campaign, and it features even more opportunities for Ontarians to join DFO in giving back to the community, says Julie Granger, DFO’s marketing manager, equity & CSR, adding this holiday season is an especially tough time for sick children and their families and DFO wants to help spread some holiday cheer for those who cannot be home.

“Right now, kids spending the holidays at the hospital aren’t able to receive physical messages or cards of support,” Granger says. “This campaign is yet another way DFO and Ontario dairy farmers can demonstrate our collective commitment to supporting local Ontario communities. The donation will go directly to support initiatives in children’s hospitals that help provide joy to patients and their families during their stay at the hospital.”

The milk and cookies campaign will allow Ontarians to send messages of support by texting a milk glass and cookie emoji along with a personal message to 50555. What’s more, for every text sent with a milk and cookie emoji, DFO will donate $2 on their behalf to SickKids and other Ontario children’s hospitals, up to the maximum $500,000 donation.

After texting their support, Ontarians will get a link to share their message on social media via an Instagram story filter. The filter will allow them to show their friends and family the message they sent to the kids and encourage them to join.

DIGITAL MILK GLASS AND SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVATIONS ADD FUN AND ENGAGEMENT

To help Ontarians visualize how every text is making a difference, DFO has created an animated digital milk glass that will fill up as more messages pour in. As messages are received, the milk level will rise until the total of $500,000 is met, which is expected to occur around Christmas.

Each person who sends a text will receive a thank you message with a custom, festive Instagram filter they can use to help spread the word on their Instagram stories.

In addition to the initiatives mentioned above, the integrated marketing plan includes social media, online digital ads, digital outdoor billboards, public relations activities, a Spotify audio ad, a custom festive Instagram filter, a website landing page, brand ambassadors to encourage consumer participation and DFO’s dairy education program holiday letter-writing partnership with Ontario schools. For more information on the campaign, visit https://fillthemilkglass.

ONTARIO DAIRY FARMERS ENCOURAGED TO JOIN AND HELP PROMOTE CAMPAIGN

To kick off the campaign and help bring it to life, Dairy Farmers of Ontario (DFO) needs everyone’s help. With a strong network of proud dairy farmers across the province, dairy farm families can be the first to join the text-to-fill initiative and inspire more Ontarians to join them.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE: • Text milk and cookie emojis to 50555 with a message for kids spending the holidays at the hospital and DFO will donate $2 on your behalf to SickKids and other Ontario children’s hospitals, up to a maximum of $500,000; • Share your text response on social media using the hashtag #FillUpWithLove and tag @ontariodairy in your post; • Tag your friends or family and encourage them to do the same.

If you’re interested in tagging your local children’s hospital in your social posts, below are the correct handles for the four Ontario children’s hospitals that will benefit from the $500,000 donation and the digital milk glass initiative:

•The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Toronto Instagram: @SickKidsVS OR @SickKidsToronto

•Children’s Hospital, London Health Sciences Centre, London Instagram: @CHFhope

•McMaster Children’s Hospital, HamiltonInstagram: @SupportHHSFoundation

•CHEO, Ottawa Instagram: @CHEOHospital