Companies engaging in cause marketing programs face a delicate balance between causes: the altruistic giving and the self-serving 
promotion. In today’s media-hyped marketplace it can be a dangerous thing if not pulled off in a sincere and credible way.
More companies are jumping on the cause marketing bandwagon as an alternative to tradition advertising, which is why many of the heavy hitters were conspicuously absent from this year’s Super Bowl ad fest.
Case in point: the Pepsi Fresh Project that ran through February. Rather than spending millions on a handful of 30-second TV commercials in and around the Big Game, Pepsi decided to reallocate that money to a worthy cause. They launched a major cross-media campaign asking the public to visit refresheverything.com and vote for a select charitable cause or community group worthy of receiving a grant ranging from $5,000 to $250,000. Options include a girls club to promote self-esteem, a diaper bank in Detroit and a group that is recycling T-shirts into shopping bags to raise money for rescued animals.
