Subaru expands Feeding America donation, advertising

Subaru of America has launched a fresh round of advertising centered around a new donation to nonprofit Feeding America amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Camden, N.J.-based unit of Japan's Subaru, along with its two independent distributors -- Subaru of New England and Subaru Distributors Corp. -- said they will be donating a total of 100 million meals, or roughly $10 million, to Feeding America.

In April, Subaru donated roughly $5 million to Feeding America, which said the gift provided 50 million meals to people in need across the country. The nonprofit has a network of 199 affiliated food banks in the U.S.

At the time, Subaru also launched a 30-second spot to promote the donation. The spot is made using footage from previous Subaru commercials as well as clips from volunteer events that Subaru and its retailers have held.

The latest spot, which will run in 15- and 30-second formats and launches Thursday, has a similar feel and fits into the marketing identity built around the idea of love that Subaru has fostered since 2008. It was created with Subaru's ad agency Carmichael Lynch.

There are photos of people receiving packages from food banks. Images of children are shown while the narrator says that 1 in 4 face hunger.

"As we continue to weather these unprecedented times together, we hope our contribution to Feeding America ensures the most vulnerable members of our communities are fed and cared for," Subaru of America CEO Tom Doll said in a statement.

Subaru says the 30-second commercial will run on cable channels including AMC, Discovery, FX, HGTV, TBS, TNT and USA, as well as TV Everywhere platforms including ABC, CBS, Fox and NBCUniversal.

Both the 15- and 30-second spots will also run on Hulu, YouTube and Peacock, Subaru said.

The automaker noted that some of its retailers have made additional donations to local Feeding America food banks for another 5.7 million meals.