Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Grocery chain Waitrose is calling on the nation to lend their voices to its Christmas advert this year in a new initiative called ‘Donate Your Voice’, which launches this week.
From Saturday (October 18), the supermarket retailer will run an online campaign urging members of the public to form a virtual choir and sing the soundtrack for its Christmas advert, and in doing so, help to raise funds for three causes by creating a charity single.
Brits are being asked to visit the Waitrose ‘Donate Your Voice’ website between October 18-28 to record and upload their own rendition of Dolly Parton’s song ‘Try’. An online tutorial will explain how it works.
Music producer David Kosten will then mix the recordings to create a virtual choir. The choral version of the song, made up of the public’s voices, will then be used as the soundtrack for the Waitrose Christmas TV advert which will air in the run-up to Christmas. The song will also be available to download as a single with 100% of the profits going to charity.
When members of the public donate their voice online, they will also be asked to put a virtual green token in a box to support one of the three charities involved: Age UK, Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity and The Trussell Trust. It will work in the same way the Community Matters scheme works in Waitrose stores, with the votes of those donating their voices determining how much goes to each charity.
Waitrose marketing director Rupert Thomas said: “We really hope ‘Donate Your Voice’ will put the fun into fundraising for the festive season, especially with the growing popularity of people joining a choir. Not only will we be able to create a totally unique soundtrack which has never been produced for advertising in this way before, but the public will be raising much needed funds for three fantastic causes.”
