A pat on the head for Purina ONE

Look for QR codes on the front of Purina ONE dry cat food packages. For each person who scans the code, Purina ONE will donate a buck, up to $30,000, to feed shelter pets. You might also visit the Purina One Facebook page and take the “Bowl By Bowl” quiz. The quiz explodes myths about alleged dangers of adopting shelter pets; and for every completed quiz, Purina ONE will donate a bowl of food to a needy shelter (name one that isn’t).

Note to cynics: Yeah, yeah, it’s a marketing ploy, and the donations may be a drop in the Purina ONE bucket. So? No one is making them do this. They could as well keep their $30,000 and sell those bowls of food. But this way, hungry animals get fed, and more shelter pets get homes. I call this a non-zero sum promotion. Good for Purina One, and good for the animals. It’s the kind of marketing we can praise for a change.

—Steve Cuno