Country Time Created a Relief Fund for Kids' Lemonade Stands

This summer, pint-sized entrepreneurs are feeling the squeeze, as social distancing guidelines curtail lemonade-stand businesses across the country.

Cue Kraft Heinz's Country Time brand and Leo Burnett, with their "Littlest Bailout Relief Fund." The sweepstakes runs through Aug. 12, and 1,000 randomly selected winners will receive $100 prepaid Visa cards—plus bright-yellow non-negotiable commemorative checks.

"We felt that the best way to maintain the child entrepreneurial spirit was to create an opportunity where kids could still receive the hard-earned money they would have received from their lemonade stands," says Andrew Deckert, head of Kraft Heinz Family Beverages.

Country Time encourages entrants to upload pictures of the stands their kids would have run if not for Covid-19 restrictions, along with a brief write-up on how they'd use the prize money "to juice the economy."

Like the project video says, "When life gives you social distancing, make lemonade!"

Getting a prepaid card will help teach kids "the value of money," Deckert says. Perhaps some of them will use it to trick out socially distanced lemonade stands, which are a thing these days. (No sense missing out on the fun of shooing off bees in high humidity while slaking the thirst of your friends and neighbors!)

In 2018, Country Time offered "Legal-Ade" to help youngsters pay fees and fines on their stands due to outdated laws. That initiative prompted legislation in Colorado and Texas to legalize lemonade stands by excluding them from businesses that need permits to operate.

This year, the brand serves up mild social commentary with its "Relief Fund," poking fun at the U.S. Paycheck Protection Program. Those loans, designed to help small businesses weather the pandemic, in some cases went to large corporations that didn't need such assistance as urgently. This caused the government considerable embarrassment and prompted some outsized recipients to return the funds.

"We understand what Covid-19 and the pandemic brought upon the world and the people in our country," Deckert says. "Country Time is definitely not making light of the difficult situation the world is in right now. We saw it as our responsibility to show that we are here for our littlest of consumers, and that we will always do our best to support them when they face adversity while chasing their entrepreneurial dreams."

Here's a "Littlest Bailout" ad running in the Wall Street Journal:

CREDITS

Client: Kraft Heinz
Country Time Littlest Bailout

Kraft Heinz
Andrew Deckert, Head of Family Beverages
Nandita Vijayaraghavan, Country Time Brand Lead

Leo Burnett
Liz Taylor, Global Chief Creative Officer
Aki Spicer, Chief Strategy Officer
Mark Burgess, EVP Account Director
Mike Davidson, EVP, Head of Production
Kevin Lily, EVP Strategy
Pete Lefevbre VP, Creative Director 
Ryan Stotts Creative Director
Daniel Jaramillo, Senior Art Director
Javier Valle, Senior Copy Writer
Bridget Rose, SVP Producer
Elizabeth Ritten Producer
Megan Collins, Account Director 
Sean Logan, Community Manager

Starcom
Aileen Gattuso – VP Director, Client Strategy & Planning
Mollie Raab – Associate Director, Programmatic
Kelsey Lawniczak – Associate Director, Connections
Liz Reed – Associate Director, Partnerships
Emma Thompson – Supervisor, Client Strategy & Planning
Molly Graham – Supervisor, Media Planning
JoJo Manalansan – Senior Associate, Investment
Lauren Poplawski – Senior Associate, Investment
Anna Kawka – Associate, Investment 
Darya Maroz – Associate, Programmatic 
Lucile Beckett – Associate, Strategy

Merkle Inc.

Alison Brod Marketing + Communications
Brooke Scher Mogan, Senior Vice President
Adrianna Lauricella, Vice President
Erika Berg, Account Supervisor