Subaru Shares the Love at Chicago, Hands Over $5 Million to Charity

Subaru seems to know that “Charity begins at home” so, the Japanese car maker will start the 2009 Chicago Auto Show with a charitable word and gesture. Thus, Subaru of America will present the $5 million raised during the "Share the Love" campaign to the participating charities in the opening of the Motor Show.

The campaign based on the love Subaru owners have for their vehicles an extension of the automaker's marketing campaign "Love. It's What Makes a Subaru, a Subaru"  and ran from November 24 to January 2. Subaru new vehicle customers were allowed to choose between the five charities to receive a $250 donation from Subaru of America, following the purchase or lease of a new Subaru vehicle.

More importantly, the campaign which included TV, print and digital media components, managed to raise $5 million for the charities during its duration.

"We wanted to create a program that not only stands out from the crowd, but was also relevant to our customer's value system - that of giving back to the community. The program is also timely in that many charities are feeling the effects of the recent economic troubles. So we are pleased to be helping charities during this difficult period. We hope to make Share the Love an annual program," said Kevin Mayer, director of marketing communications for Subaru of America.

The five charities participating in the program were Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Habitat for Humanity International, Meals On Wheels Association of America, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) and The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). All of them will participate at this year's Chicago auto-event.

To be honest, we are happy to see automakers that manage to find a moment from their busy schedule during the global recession and try to think a little bit to those who are in need.