Innocent’s Big Knit is on…

The latest edition of one of the cleverest and nicest and most authentice promotions ever has kicked off. Its Innocent’s "Big Knit":
– They invite people to knit little hats
– These go on top of innocent bottles
– Sainsbury’s sell ’em for 50p more than normal
– The 50p goes to Help the Aged to help old folk at Xmas [did you know that 25,000 old people die each year from "cold-related illnesses? 25,00? From being cold?]

What is nice is that a lot of the hats are knitted by old ladies, who get very into the whole thing. Gives them a little project to work on and a sense of doing some good. Here’s Dolly with her hats:

In 2006 £115,000 was raised by knitting 230,000 hats. This year the target is £200,000 from 400,000 hats.

I like lots of things about the Big Knit:
– It feels very "innocent"
– It creates good stand-out on shelf
– Every pack is individual
– It creates a huge amount of involvement, rather than the company just giving money

There is a flickr group with photos of the hats here, and a movie that tells the story of the idea here.

And if you want to learn more on innocent, here is a post with "31 things that make them different".