Sesame Street has always been about helping kids learn not just how to count and spell, but also to deal with everyday issues. Unfortunately for America, its prison population has grown so large now that Sesame Street has felt compelled to create an online kit to help kids deal with when their parents get sent to the slammer. After all, more than 2.5 million American kids have a parent in prison.

Entitled “Little Children, Big Challenges, Incarceration,” the package provides videos and activities for kids between the ages of 3- to 8-years-old, such as the animated “Visiting Dad in Prison” and a “You’re Not Alone” musical number with Abby Cadabby and other Muppets, as well as tips for caregivers on how to help children deal with incarcerated parents.Continue reading...

Advertising for innovative products and services are everywhere, but it's rare to find any that will actually help you out in that very moment. IBM does just that with its new outdoor advertising campaign from Ogilvy & Mather France, Adweek reports.

A simple curve in three different outdoor ads help them turn into structures that are actually useful to passersby: benches, shelters, and a smooth runway along a stairwell for bikes or luggage. The simple bit of innovation showcases the way IBM approaches the world while also hoping to inspire others to share their ideas on making cities more efficient and effective for its residents.Continue reading...

Pop royalty, fashion icons, princes and tech billionaires came together in London to promote Chime For Change, a equal rights movement for women and girls worldwide that utilizes an innovative crowdfunding platform dedicated to a demographic in need. 

The benefit concent, performed in London, was streamed to 150 countries and televised in the US, reaching over 1 billion people who donated more than $4.3 million to the cause, which was founded by Gucci and creative director Frida Giannini, Beyonce and Salma Hayek Pinault. The non-profit is supported by the Kering Foundation and Francois-Henri Pinault, the CEO of luxury conglomerate PPR (rebranded as Kering).

The lavish performances were interspersed with mini-documentaries about the plight of women and girls worldwide in developing countries. Those attending the concert were able to donate the value of their ticket to a non-profit of their choice, thanks to Giannini, who underwrote the event.Continue reading...

Google and Ogilvy Paris would like to take partial credit for France recently passing a law legalizing same-sex marriage. Their contribution, the "first social same-sex marriage" initiative for gay couples allowed partners to get married via Google Hangout, which was created with the help of non-profit Tous Unis Pour L'Egalite (United for Equality).

The team produced a series of  “social marriages” through a video-conferencing event presided over by a mayor in Belgium—not to mention a unique showcase of Google Hangouts' feature that lets up to 10 computers connect on a single call—providing witnesses for the joyous event and participation by family and friends not in attendance.Continue reading...

In recognition of World Malaria Day and the more than 660,000 people that still die from the deadly but preventable disease, Novartis and Malaria No More have partnered for a unique campaign that will provide malaria treatments to those infected in Africa.

Over the next three years, Novartis, joined by diagnostic testing company Alere Inc., will donate up to three million courses of pediatric antimalarial drug, matching the number of treatments donated by the public through the Power of One campaign.

“We believe that this innovative campaign will help speed malaria elimination,” said Joseph Jimenez, Novartis CEO in a press release. “Novartis has been striving towards this goal for more than a decade, and we just reached the milestone of providing 600 million treatments without profit to patients in malaria-endemic countries. No one should die from malaria today.”Continue reading...

Starbucks got itself into a heap of PR trouble last year in the UK when it came to be known publicly that the company had found a way to not pay taxes in the UK over the last three years despite bringing in $2 billion in revenue there during the same time period. 

Since then, the coffee giant has offered to pay more than $16 million in taxes in the UK this year, more than it is legally required to. That hasn’t necessarily meant that coffee lovers there have returned in droves, though. Now Starbucks is taking another step forward in its charm offensive, leading the way on a popular project called Suspended Coffee.Continue reading...

1 in 88 children born today will have autism, according to the CDC's latest prevalence report. April is awareness month for the fastest growing developmental disorder in the U.S., and brands are doing their part to shine a (blue) light on those affected and contribute to research. 

JetBlue’s “Wings for Autism” program works with local autism awareness groups to aid families with special needs children while traveling. The program, which was initiated at Boston's Logan International Airport, allows families to familiarize their children with the flying process ahead of time, including the sights and sounds, which austistic children are particularly sensitive to. On May 6, the program will be featured at Long Beach and Burbank airports, with plans to host a similar event at New York's JFK International Airport later this year.Continue reading...

Starbucks met with investors last Wednesday to filled them in on the farm its buying in Costa Rica—a company first—as well as the expansion of its three-year-old My Starbucks Rewards program, now allowing folks who buy SBUX products in grocery stores as well as in other Starbucks-owned brands such as Teavana to earn points that they can redeem over in Starbucks cafes. The hope is to double the loyalty program to nine million folks by the end of fiscal year 2013.

But the biggest moment of the meeting was likely when CEO Howard Schultz proved he was worthy of being made to look heroic in a comic book by responding forcefully to a shareholder that questioned the company’s support of Washington state’s same-sex referendum last year: “We want to embrace diversity,” he said. “The lens in which we are making that decision is through the lens of our people. We employ over 200,000 people in this company, and we want to embrace diversity.” He went on to suggest that the shareholder was more than welcome to sell his shares and take his money elsewhere. “This is not an economic decision,” he said. And then was applauded by other shareholders.Continue reading...