Nothing else matters but giving blood during Metallica’s Australian tour

The global metal juggernaut’s M72 world tour is about to arrive in Australia, with the first concert in Perth on November 1. This would not normally cause ripples at the blood bank, except that Metallica’s foundation contacted Lifeblood pre-tour to suggest a team-up.

As a result, Lifeblood loyalty program members who donate blood over the next few weeks in specific Lifeblood collection centres will receive a limited edition Metallica x Lifeblood t-shirt featuring the lyric “A Sea of Hearts Beat As One”. The promotion has already proving so popular that it’s been extended by a week.

“They [Metallica] reached out to us,” said Lifeblood senior media manager Rachel Wells. “Their foundation, All Within My Hands, had done a similar initiative with the American Red Cross during the US leg of the world tour. Over there, they were doing pop-up and drive-through blood donations at the venues of the concerts, which was a bit tricky for us to do for a variety of reasons. They were doing t-shirts as well and asked if we wanted to do something similar in Australia.”

It would be fair to say Metallica fans have answered the call. “In the week we announced it, we saw really strong bookings, which prompted us to open up more bookings,” Wells said. “We had an initial 5,000 t-shirts, but now we’ve got another 5,000, and opened up bookings for the week after the concerts in each of those cities where they’re touring. Those appointments are coming in, but we always need more.”

The band has pushed the hashtag #bleedingme globally, referencing one of its most famous songs, while Lifeblood has gone with the line “There’s metal in everyone’s blood.” On Metallica’s website, the band offers advice about when you can donate blood or plasma if you’ve had a tattoo recently. They know their fans.

Wells said the unexpected combination of blood donations and a legendary metal bands had caught the public’s and media’s curiosity, while disrupting Lifeblood’s usual messaging in a positive and instructive way.

“We saw it obviously as a great opportunity, to have such a big name add some clout to our message,” Wells said. “I feel like there’s only so many times we can say we need more blood donors, which we keep on saying, but to have someone like Metallica put their weight behind it is very powerful. And the response has been amazing.”

Lifeblood is now pondering further such pop culture partnerships, given the enduring success of charity messaging tactics for celebrities, athletes and other famous names. Former Olympian Michael Klim has been a prominent Lifeblood ambassador for several years, but he also relies on the service for his own health, suffering from a rare autoimmune disorder called chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, or CIDP, and he requires regular plasma donations to remain healthy.

“Michael is a recipient of plasma donations, which is quite a different market, but again, that’s had some real impact for us in terms of building awareness, and he’s been a really great voice for us,” Wells said.

“I don’t think in recent times we’ve had a response like we have had to Metallica joining forces with us. It’s such a big international name and it also allows us to talk to different audiences that perhaps we don’t always cut through to.

“That’s something we’re thinking about all the time: how we can talk to young people and different segments of the population? Metallica has had that big cut through for us and we’re always thinking about other influencers or celebrities who might have a personal connection to blood donation, as we find that if there’s not just the celebrity power, but also that really personal connection as well, that’s a really powerful combination for us.”

More information

Give blood and rock out a Metallica x Lifeblood t-shirt on these dates:

Perth Donor Centre October 25 to November 7
Adelaide Donor Centre October 29 to November 11
Melbourne Donor Centre November 1–14
Brisbane Donor Centre November 5–18
Sydney Town Hall and York Street Donor Centres November 8–21