When I went to the United Airlines home page (http://www.united.com) tonight to sign in and print out my boarding pass for tomorrow, I noticed a link saying “give a teddy bear to a child” under the United News and Details section in the center of the page. The link took me to a landing page that describes United’s promotion with the American Cancer Society.

“Give a teddy bear to a child who needs it the most.  Funds and Mileage Plus miles raised during the Kenny Hugyou campaign will support the American Cancer Society’s efforts to eliminate cancer as a life-threatening disease, educate individuals about cancer prevention, support those with the disease, and fund research to find new and better treatments.”  (http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6722,52401,00.html)  The promotion invites customers to “give a great, big bear hug and join United Airlines and the American Cancer Society® in bringing a smile to a child with cancer.” For a contribution of $50 or 7,500 Mileage Plus® miles to the American Cancer Society, United will arrange for a huggable, limited-edition 17 inch Gund® teddy bear, Kenny Hugyou (can-he-hug-you) to be delivered to children in hospitals across the country that have been pre-selected by the American Cancer Society. Contribute $250 or more and a second teddy bear will be sent to your home.  The bears will be delivered in February 2008.  Tax-deductible contributions need to be made online by January 31, 2008. All miles will be donated through United and that all cash donations must be made directly to the American Cancer Society.

Nice thing for United to do — I’ll be interested to see if they post any update about how the special promotion went when it is over.  The American Cancer Society is of course one of the well-known giant nonprofit organizations.  Cancer is tough at any age and especially when it involves children.  However, I am left with some questions.  Why the ACS?  Is this being run through United’s foundation or..?  Was this a strategic choice linked to business or specific stakeholder goals or…a nice thing to do?  Is there an employee component to this, or is it just for customers and people that happen onto the site?  It is almost sacrilegious, so I hate to say… I am a little underwhelmed about the link between an airline and teddy bears in hospitals.  Are they being flown in?