Earn up to 50,000 Bonus My Coke Rewards Points for your kid's school

Those of you that know me well may have been wondering why I decided to participate in in the Sprite and TwitterMoms back to school campaign. The TwitterMoms part isn't questionable. It's the Sprite.

You see, I don't let my kids drink soda. I have even spoken out about the evils of high fructose corn syrup in the past. Sprite contains high fructose corn syrup. So, have I completely sold out?

Apparently, while I was away for a couple of days, that very topic broke out on TwitterMoms. Follow the discussion.

I went through the same thoughts before agreeing to participate in this campaign. I would like to see more brands align with parents - thus creating more opportunity. I've been blogging for over 2 years now, and we're getting there. We really are.

Let me explain why I don't think it was a "sell out" for me to participate in this campaign.

You see, I DO let my kids have a treat every now and then. And when I do, I've always considered Sprite to be one of the better soda choices.

Also, this campaign isn't about telling children to drink Coke or Sprite. It's for parents to talk about back to school. I have not been asked once to promote the product, just to talk about back to school to other parents. Parents who probably do drink Coke or Sprite on occasion. I know I do. My Jack & Cokes would be jack without the Coke. (sorry, bad pun).

So, no. The Sprite and TwitterMoms back-to-school campaign has nothing to do with pimping soda to young kids. I am certainly not endorsing soda machines in elementary schools.  I would not have participated if that were a stipulation.

That being said, the Sprite and TwitterMoms campaign is doing something WAY COOL for schools.

Read on.

Did you know that you can donate your My Coke Rewards to schools? That's right. Schools can use these points to buy "creative supplies, textbooks, athletic equipment and many other rewards that allow children to learn and excel."

My daughter attends public school now and I am well aware of how limited school budgets can be. Especially in this economy.

Folks, THAT is why I am participating in this campaign.

Wondering how you can earn points for your school?

There are two great ways that do not involve drinking soda.

1) Check out the Sprite Back to School Tweet-a-thon. Sprite is giving away 25,000 My Coke Rewards to the school that gets the most tweets using the school name and hashtag #spritebts.

Any tweets naming a school and using the #spritebts hashtag made between now and midnight, August 31, 2009 will count and we’ll announce the winner and announced on September 1, 2009. Make that school yours!

That's pretty cool.

AND...

2) Participate in tonight's Twitter Party from 5-7pm PST sponsored by the Sprite and TwitterMoms back to school campaign. Follow the #spritebts hashtag on Twitter to share funny stories, tips and tricks for back to school.

Sprite will credit each #spritebts tweet during the Twitter Party with 10 additional My Coke Rewards Bonus Points. All the points earned will be donated to the same school that wins the Sprite Back-to-School Tweet-A-Thon.

Yep, do the math.  That's 50,000 My Coke Rewards points for one school.

I'll end with words of wisdom from my lottery-playing grandfather:

"You can't win if you don't play."

Comments

[lceel]

Cool idea. We'll have to see what happens.