KANSAS CITY, MO: The Lee Company scaled back media efforts for its
annual Lee National Denim Day (NDD) last Friday, but still raised more
than $7.5 million in pledges to fund breast cancer research.
For NDD, companies allow employees to wear jeans to work in return for a
$5-per employee donation to breast cancer research.
Lee officials met with PR agency Barkley Evergreen shortly after the
World Trade Center attacks to consider what would be an appropriate PR
approach for NDD given the tragedies. Barkley cut back on New York media
calls and decided not to fly Lucy Liu, NDD spokeswoman, to Kansas City
for an October 5 press conference. An SMT from Los Angeles was arranged
instead.
Efforts to garner attention from the New York entertainment media were
scaled back, though Liu did get appearances on CNN Headline News and
Access Hollywood, said Kathy Collins, VP of marketing at Lee.
The event was considered too important to the cause of breast cancer
research to cancel. Funds raised are given to the Susan G. Komen Breast
Cancer Foundation. The event raised $24 million in its first five
years, with $7 million being collected last year. Lee called it
the largest single-day fundraiser for breast cancer research.
