Every year during the month of October, The Estée Lauder Companies raises money for its Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign. Over the past 25 years of the campaign, Estée Lauder has raised more than $70 million to fund global research, education, and medical services. Every October, all of the Estée Lauder brands release limited edition “pink ribbon” products, of which a portion of the purchase price is donated to the BCA campaign.

This October, in addition to releasing its annual pink ribbon products, Clinique, one of the Estée Lauder brands, created the Take the Day Off Challenge. Clinique asked social media fans to post of a video or photo of themselves removing their makeup on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. The fans were also asked to tag 3 friends and ask them to do the challenge and use 3 hashtags on the post: #CliniqueDonates, #TakeTheDayOffChallenge, #PinkRibbon25. For every post, Clinique donated $10, up to $250,000 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Many beauty influencers and celebrities participated in the challenge, including Ashley Tisdale, Leighton Meester, and Maria Menounos. The president of Clinique, Jane Lauder, also posted a video removing her makeup.

Clinique gave out free samples of its Take the Day Off makeup remover products at many of its counters to promote the challenge, although fans could use any brand makeup remover to do the challenge.

I feel this was a great way for Clinique to promote its Take the Day Off product line and increase its brand awareness and engagement, while also raising money for breast cancer. Clinique fans were willing to participate because their post was worth a $10 donation and felt like they were making a difference. Clinique wanted to send the message that taking your makeup off online can be scary, but if women can be brave through fighting breast cancer, fans can be brave enough to complete the challenge. Because the challenge was completed by many influencers and celebrities, it reached a large audience and was therefore successful.