This year, the M&M’s® cars will be driving a maximum of rounds in favour of a good cause, i.e. 2 charity funds which we have very much at heart.

In both cases, it’s all about sponsoring or being godparent, through the internet, to:
- Côte-à-Côte, a non-profit organization which wants to build a home in aid of young adults suffering from BMI (brain motor injury) at the heart of Louvain-la-Neuve.
www.coteacote.info
- S.O.S. Villages d’enfants / Kinderdorpen (Congo), a good cause in aid of underprivileged children, having as its ambassador no less a person than Kim Gevaert.
www.sos-villages-enfants.be

The M&M’s® team can count on the presence and on the back-up by drivers such as Pierre-Olivier Beckers, president of the BOIC (Belgian Olympic Committee), Eric Mestdagh and Arthur and Peter Vandenbosch. The wheel of our second car will be entrusted to some talented young Belgian drivers with great ambitions, including Ludovic Sougne, Maxime Soulet, Maxime Martin and Nico Verdonck.

Moreover, we will have great pleasure in welcoming Koen Wauters, singer of Clouseau, one of the hottest bands in Flemish-speaking Belgium. He will be driving a few rounds with one of our M&M’s® cars in favour of our good causes.

In addition, we are looking forward to welcoming Kim Gevaert and the Borlée family (Olivia, Jonathan & Kevin) who will be cheering on the M&M’s® drivers and, in doing so, will be supporting both charity funds.

The Fun Cup hand in hand with the environment
Over the last four years, the two Beetles defending the colours of M&M’s® have already been brightening up the 25 hour VW Fun Cup, the longest car race in the world. This yearly event is staged in July at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack.

As a genuine advocate of this event, Philippe Henry de Frahan, Mars Belgium’s General Manager, became growingly conscious of the responsibility with respect to the environment which entails from the running of this yearly race. In the scope of an attempt to reduce the CO2 emission, as well as from his individual and social conviction’s point of view, he turned for advice to CO2logic, an office which is expert in environmental issues.

“This major event which attracts some 35,000 spectators each year, perfectly fits in the M&M’s® ‘fun’ image,” says Philippe Henry de Frahan. “To us, it was important to duly consider its ecological aspects. That’s why we turned for advice to CO2logic, asking them to figure out how much the environmental impact of these two race cars would cost. We gladly offered the amount corresponding to this cost to an organization that will be building a low CO2 emission power plant in India which has been acknowledged as such by the United Nations. In this way, we are supporting the sustained development in that country.”

“As to VW, the car manufacturer and head sponsor of the race, measures have also been taken with a view to reducing the consumption and lowering the CO2 emission during the VW Fun Cup races at Spa-Francorchamps. In the early part of this year, Volkswagen had promised to equip the diesel powered cars with their Blue Motion technology, which enhances output and performance, whilst lowering CO2 emission. Hence, both M&M’s® cars will use this Blue Motion technology, allowing them to diminish consumption by 30%, to reduce CO2 emission by 20% and to lower sound intensity by 40%.”

Total compensation of our CO2 footprint
“This first contact with CO2logic convinced us to analyze more profoundly the Mars Belgium carbon footprint in its whole. If we compensate for our emission during this race, why shouldn’t we do so for all our other activities? As a matter of fact, we have already obtained excellent results in the field of rationally making use of our energy. And lately, our company has been taking numerous environment-friendly initiatives.”
“In addition to the usual measures, we are looking exclusively for ecologically sound company cars, we are analyzing the choice of our power supplier and we are even staging ‘eco-driving’ courses, teaching our employees how to cut back on their power consumption (how to drive more economically?).”

Why do we join this competition?
“There are a couple of reasons. First of all, it serves the visibility of both our brand and our company. Indeed, the Fun Cup attracts some 35,000 visitors each year! And this event allowing us to support two good causes in a funny way, makes it all the more worthwhile.”

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