Around the world, the elephant is seen as a symbol of strength, well-being, dignity, and good luck. Residents of the Los Angeles area encountered scores of colorful, super-graphic posters and billboards of elephants with the tagline, “Live Large”.

Following a ravaging firestorm, four Australian centers got together to thank firefighters and volunteers, and find a way to give back to their ravaged community.

Cloverdale Mall and Clover Leaf Seafoods teamed up to promote the mall’s Tuna Tuesdays food drive, with outstanding results. Originally hoping to raise 10,000 cans of tuna, which would be matched by Clover Leaf Seafoods, the mall instead collected 25,418.

As part of its grand re-opening, Willow Grove Park aided charity by auctioning tabletop-sized carousel horses that were decorated by celebrities. The horses were replicas of the mall’s new carousel, a key attraction and visual focal point of the renovation. The event saw sales rise 40% over the previous year, food merchants reported an average sales increase of 90%, and more than $26,000 was raised to benefit cancer prevention.

Southglenn Mall became a sponsor of Freedom Dogs, a non-profit agency that rescues dogs from shelters and trains them to assist the physically disabled in their day-to-day lives.

Southgate Shopping Centre collected women’s business outfits that they no longer needed, and donated them to others seeking to enter the workforce. The center also arranged for haircuts, manicures, and facials.

Oxford Valley Mall’s 31-member teen board set up a haunted house in a vacant space, in order to raise money and food for the Salvation Army.

Low birth weights triggered an unusual alliance of business and media in Monterey County, California. Northridge Center initiated the challenge of giving women incentives for using the program’s “Healthy Mom, Healthy Baby” handbooks. The incentives include T-shirts and packets of mall coupons, which are distributed to women who return the completed handbook at the end of each trimester of their pregnancy.

When the California Restaurant Association approached Broadway Plaza about hosting the Third Annual Bay Area Restaurant Olympics, Marketing Director Kaycee McKenzie saw the potential for increasing the center’s community goodwill. The association and corporate sponsors picked up most of the costs, and around 4,000 people attended the event.

Palm Desert Town Center rose up to help its community and bolster its image after the local school district lost funding. Customers were given a special token for every $10 spent, which were then gathered and returned by local schools. Winning schools were awarded prizes from their wish lists.