Tempur-Pedic brings back teddy bears to battle cancer

This year's models are cream-colored

David Perry -- Furniture Today, August 30, 2010

Tempur-Pedic executives Todd Miller, left, Kaci Prunty and Dan Setlak display the new cream-colored teddy bears that are part of the company’s campaign to support pancreatic cancer research.

This new teddy bear will help Tempur-Pedic retailers support pancreatic cancer research this year

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Those Tempur-Pedic teddy bears, which raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for pancreatic cancer research last year, are returning this year.

The brown bears that helped the memory foam leader contribute $500,000 to pancreatic cancer research are making way for new cream-colored teddy bears, the company recently announced.

Rick Anderson, president of Tempur-Pedic North America, said the company remains committed to supporting research for a cure for pancreatic cancer, the fourth-leading cause of cancer death in the United States and the one with the highest mortality rate of all major cancers.

The Tempur-Pedic Hugs Back program supports the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, which plays a key role in research.

Tempur-Pedic retailers can use the teddy bears in a number of ways. They are encouraged to display the bears prominently in their stores. The bears can be sold to consumers, or retailers can use them as a gift with the purchase of Tempur-Pedic mattresses.

The special edition teddy bear, which has the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network name and logo embroidered on one of its paws, carries a suggested retail of $59. The wholesale cost of the bears is $40. Tempur-Pedic will donate $20 per unit sold to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network to continue funding research, Anderson said.

A new element of this year's campaign is a program in which Tempur-Pedic will donate $10 for each consumer who visits a retailer in November to test rest a Tempur-Pedic mattress, the company said. Tempur-Pedic said it will donate up to $100,000 to pancreatic cancer research in that program.

Tempur-Pedic also said it has funded the 2010 award of its Tempur-Pedic Retailers' Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Pathways to Leadership Grant. It has been presented to a Johns Hopkins researcher, Zeshaan Rasheed. The five-year grant totals $600,000.

"We are very grateful for Tempur-Pedic's commitment and support of our cause and mission," said Pam Acosta Marquardt, director of donor and corporate relations for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. "We are especially thankful to Todd Miller, Tempur-Pedic's vice president of retail sales, and Kaci Prunty, Tempur-Pedic's retail marketing manager, for their extraordinary support and effort in planning and supporting this program."

Tempur-Pedic has been supporting the cause of pancreatic cancer research since 2003, when bedding veteran Roger Magowitz launched the Seena Magowitz Golf Classic. That has grown to be one of the largest pancreatic cancer fundraisers, and Tempur-Pedic is a major supporter of that event.