What would you be willing to give for an ultra-exclusive t-shirt? Hundreds of dollars? Hours of waiting in line?
What about the blood?
A white graphic T-shirt featuring the “Peanuts” character Snoopy has become an online obsession. The shirt was released by the Red Cross and “Peanuts” as part of a promotion to encourage blood donation in April. It is free, although the only way to obtain it is by donating blood, plasma or platelets.
The award-winning T-shirt shows Snoopy, dressed as his alter ego, Joe Cool, leaning nonchalantly against the distinctive Red Cross emblem above a caption that reads: “Be cool. Donate blood.”
TO video Posted on TikTok Wednesday about donating blood specifically to get Snoopy’s T-shirt was viewed more than four million times. Dozens of similar clips followed, some of them set at the Vince Guaraldi Trio. instrumental jazz “Linus and Lucy”.
“They are finally realizing that we will do anything for the merchandise,” wrote one commenter.
Mollie Fox, a senior at Belmont University in Nashville, was one of the recent donors motivated, at least in part, by the prospect of Snoopy’s T-shirt. At their date Wednesday, she said he tried to act as cool as the famous beagle.
“I was in a little cubicle having my hemoglobin levels taken and the guy said, ‘Oh, by the way, we’re doing a promotion where we’re giving away Snoopy T-shirts to donors. Do you want one?’” Fox said. “I played it pretending I didn’t know. Like, ‘Yeah, sure.’”
She was also following the example of her father, a frequent blood donor, she added. “She’s kind of in the hall of fame at our hometown blood bank,” Fox said.
The experience was easy, he added. (Blood donation is generally low risk for eligible individuals.) She left the appointment with the T-shirt, several free packs of Cheez-Its, and an appointment to donate blood again in June.
The Red Cross has offered tie-in merchandise in previous blood drives. In 2019, the nonprofit organization partnered with HBO to “Bleed for the Throne,” a campaign in which he offered commemorative T-shirts from the final season of “Game of Thrones” and the chance to win a replica of the throne.
“The strategy is to introduce blood donation to fan bases to really inspire new donors through the lens of their existing interests and passion points,” said Darren Irby, executive director of national brand associations for the Red Cross.
To help the latest campaign gain traction, the organization paid a handful of influencers to run ads for the “Peanuts” association on TikTok and Instagram. However, the videos of daily TikTok users are the ones that really go viral.
Cristina Perez, a 20-year-old bioengineering student at the University of Pennsylvania, said she saw the shirt on TikTok Wednesday night and quickly booked an appointment for the next day.
“I was like, I need this shirt,” he said.
After donating blood for the first time, he said he was considering doing it more often. And as the weather warms up, she plans to wear her Snoopy shirt “with longer shorts, a casual look,” she said, using an acronym for “jean shorts.” He added that he hoped the Red Cross would release a SpongeBob T-shirt next.
Others on social media lamented that restrictions around donating blood it would prevent them from getting the snoopy t-shirt. The Food and Drug Administration has long excluded most gay and bisexual men from donating blood. In January, the agency said it would relax those restrictions and instead screen donors based on their recent sexual activity. A user wrote on the screen in a tik tok videos that she couldn’t donate blood because she recently had a boyfriend.
The American Red Cross created its civilian blood donation program in the 1940s. During the coronavirus pandemic, the organization said it experienced a “staggering” drop in its blood supply. Irby said young people often start donating blood at high school or college blood drives, many of which have been put on hold during the pandemic. She now sees that many young people show up to donate blood on social networks.
Snoopy, the lop-eared beagle from Charles M. Schulz’s comic strip, is no stranger to public adoration. In the strip and more than 40 “Peanuts” television specials, he appeared both as Charlie Brown’s sidekick and as the author of vivid fantasy characters, including Joe Cool.
Peyton Weber, 19, a student at Joliet Junior College in Illinois, said the “Peanuts” character was a smart choice for a Red Cross tie-up because of its appeal across the generations. Mr. Weber, a longtime “Peanuts” fan, was especially excited that the shirt featured Joe Cool.
“It’s just Snoopy in sunglasses, but it’s something else entirely,” he said. “What’s cooler than a dog in sunglasses?”
He added that he hoped the Red Cross didn’t run out of jerseys before their appointment on Tuesday. The promotion is scheduled for April 23 (“While supplies last,” Mr. Irby warned).
In a recent videoOne TikTok user posted a clip of what appeared to be paramedics helping a blood donor who had apparently passed out during the process.
“Anything for Snoopy’s T-shirt,” read the caption on the screen.
