MasterCard Introduces Campaign to Support Stand Up to Cancer

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July 12, 2011 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time 

MasterCard Introduces the ‘Eat, Drink and Be Generous’ Campaign to Benefit Stand Up To Cancer

Program Encourages Cardholders to Use Their MasterCard Cards When Dining out to Raise Funds for Innovative Cancer Research

Visit standup2cancer.org/mastercard

PURCHASE, N.Y. & LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MasterCard Worldwide today introduced ‘Eat, Drink and Be Generous’, a campaign dedicated to making every penny count in the fight against cancer, that will raise funds for research supported by the Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) charitable initiative. Every time cardholders use their MasterCard cards when dining out from now through September 1^st, MasterCard will make a penny donation on each transaction, up to $4 million total, to SU2C. Qualifying purchases include a cup of coffee or a quick meal to ordering take out and fine dining.*

“Every penny counts in the fight against cancer, so we are enormously pleased to introduce Eat Drink and Be Generous with MasterCard Worldwide”

Launched in 2008, Stand Up To Cancer -- a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation -- works to accelerate the pace of groundbreaking collaborative research in order to bring new cancer treatments to patients quickly and save lives now. SU2C draws on the entertainment industry to engage the public in the fight against this disease that takes far too many lives -- 1,500 people every day in the United States alone.

MasterCard’s ‘Eat, Drink and Be Generous’ campaign will include public awareness spots featuring Stand Up To Cancer volunteer ambassadors such as Ray Romano and Reese Witherspoon, who appear in a spot to be broadcast exclusively during tonight’s Major League Baseball All-Star Game on FOX.

SU2C ambassador Terrence Howard will help kick off the ‘Eat, Drink and Be Generous’ campaign during the 2011 All-Star Game festivities, appearing in a spot that will air during the broadcast on FOX, re-run in MLB stadiums across the country throughout the baseball season, and air on MLB networks.

“With one in two men and one in three women diagnosed in their lifetimes, this disease affects each and every one of us…And MasterCard is helping Stand Up To Cancer engage the public in supporting the scientists who are working to end it,” said Stand Up To Cancer co-founder Sue Schwartz.

“Every penny counts in the fight against cancer, so we are enormously pleased to introduce Eat Drink and Be Generous with MasterCard Worldwide,” added Rusty Robertson, another Stand Up To Cancer co-founder. “Choosing to use a MasterCard to pay for a meal will be an easy way for consumers to contribute to progress in cutting-edge research.”

Online and in-restaurant materials, web banner ads, statement inserts and ATM messaging through MasterCard bank partners will also help raise awareness and promote the ‘Eat, Drink and Be Generous’ campaign.

Celebrating Priceless Everyday Moments

“We recognize that for people affected by cancer, there is a new appreciation and celebration of everyday moments,” said MasterCard Group Head of US Marketing, Cheryl Guerin. “It’s suddenly not about seeing your son or daughter hit the game-winning home run, it’s about being there to give a thumbs up whether they hit the ball or not. These are the priceless everyday moments MasterCard celebrates, and wants to enable more of, by supporting breakthrough cancer research funded through Stand Up To Cancer.”

In support of this, MasterCard has created an innovative social media experience where people can upload photos of their priceless everyday moments onto Stand Up To Cancer’s Facebook page. With every upload and “like” of their everyday moment by their communities, MasterCard will make an incremental donation to Stand Up To Cancer up to $100K above its $4 million commitment.** Through this innovative social mechanism, all of our priceless everyday moments will translate into even more support for the scientists working around the clock to beat this disease.

* Certain terms and conditions apply: From July 12 – September 1, 2011, MasterCard will donate to Stand Up to Cancer $.01 per qualifying restaurant transaction up to $4 million. The promotion applies to U.S. qualifying restaurant purchases made by MasterCard consumer cardholders with MasterCard cards issued by U.S. financial institutions. The promotion ends when we reach the $4 million contribution goal.

** Certain terms and conditions apply.

For more information about MasterCard’s “Eat Drink and Be Generous” campaign, visit www.standup2cancer.org/mastercard.

About MasterCard Worldwide

As a leading global payments company, MasterCard Worldwide prides itself on being at the heart of commerce, helping to make life easier and more efficient for everyone, everywhere. MasterCard serves as a franchisor, processor and advisor to the payments industry, and makes commerce happen by providing a critical economic link among financial institutions, governments, businesses, merchants, and cardholders worldwide. In 2010, $2.7 trillion in gross dollar volume was generated on its products by consumers around the world. Powered by the MasterCard Worldwide Network – the fastest payment processing network in the world – MasterCard processes over 23 billion transactions each year and has the capacity to handle 160 million transactions per hour, with an average network response time of 130 milliseconds and with 99.99 percent reliability. MasterCard advances global commerce through its family of brands, including MasterCard®, Maestro®, and Cirrus®; its suite of core products such as credit, debit, and prepaid; and its innovative platforms and functionalities, such as MasterCard PayPass™ and MasterCard inControl®. MasterCard serves consumers, governments, and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. For more information, please visit us at www.mastercard.com. Follow us on Twitter: @mastercardnews.

About Stand Up To Cancer

Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) is a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, and was established by a group of media, entertainment and philanthropic leaders whose lives have been affected by cancer in significant ways. Members of the Executive Leadership Council include Katie Couric; the Entertainment Industry Foundation, represented by Board of Directors Chairperson Sherry Lansing (Founder of the Sherry Lansing Foundation), CEO Lisa Paulsen and Senior Vice President Kathleen Lobb; Rusty Robertson and Sue Schwartz of the Robertson Schwartz Agency; Pam Williams, partner at Laura Ziskin Productions; and nonprofit executive Ellen Ziffren. The late Laura Ziskin, a legendary film producer who passed away from breast cancer last month after living courageously with the disease for seven years, was also a co-founder of Stand Up To Cancer. This initiative with MasterCard was the last spot she produced for SU2C.

SU2C's Dream Team approach to funding translational cancer research is designed to bring together the best and brightest scientists from different disciplines at research centers across the country and internationally who will work collaboratively to quickly address today’s critical problems in patient care. Monies also support innovative cancer research projects that are often deemed “too risky” by conventional funding sources. Currently, 355 scientists from 55 institutions are involved in SU2C-funded research projects – either as members of scientific “Dream Teams” or as recipients of Innovative Research Grants. As SU2C’s scientific collaborator, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), led by a prestigious SU2C Scientific Advisory Committee, provides scientific oversight, expert review of the research projects, and grants administration. For more information go to www.standup2cancer.org.

Contacts

For MasterCard Worldwide
Sarah Ely, 914-249-6714
sarah_ely@mastercard.com
or
For Stand Up To Cancer
Kathleen Lobb, 917-623-9743
klobb@eifoundation.org
or
Maurine Slutzky, 213-240-3923
mslutzky@eifoundation.org