Appliance maker Jenn-Air this week launched a series of podcasts designed to raise donations for its cause-marketing partner, Share Our Strength.
The Wired Home Chef series of five podcasts features top chefs demonstrating preparation of their signature dish. The first in the series debuted on Sunday, June 25.
Share Our Strength’s site sends consumers to Jenn-Air’s site to access the podcasts; each time a visitor downloads a podcast, Jenn-Air makes a donation to Share Our Strength, up to $25,000.
The first featured chef is Ben Ford of Ford’s Filling Station in Los Angeles. Other chefs will be unveiled as the program progresses; the next podcast debuts in August.
Each podcast debut coincides with an event in Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation campaign of fund-raising food and wine tastings, dinners, brunches and barbecues. Taste of the Nation, sponsored by Jenn-Air and American Express, has 51 events across the U.S. this year, from March through August, serving about 55,000 attendees.
As part of its presenting sponsorship, Jenn-Air provides kitchen equipment for chef demonstrations and for auctions that are held at most Taste of the Nation events. Jenn-Air also supports two promotional overlays: a “Best Home Chef” essay contest that awards Jenn-Air products and tickets to Taste of the Nation; and a separate Iron Chef-style competition held at some Taste of the Nation events. Jenn-Air began sponsoring Share Our Strength’s 19-year-old program in 2003.
A separate fund-raising program, Tasteful Pursuit, operates this year without a title sponsor after a tie-in with Lexus last year, when the program first began. Tasteful Pursuit sends four chefs to seven cities to serve an upscale, multi-course sit-down dinner; guests pay $150 to $250 a plate, depending on the city. Share Our Strength is seeking a sponsor for 2007. “We were looking for the right sponsor for this year, but the timing didn’t work out,” says spokesperson Hannah Isles.
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