American Cancer Society Benefits From Bieber Fever [VIDEO]

The American Cancer Society has embraced a winning formula for disseminating its message via social media: tying in with celebrity birthdays.

Since such birthdays often pop up as trending topics on Twitter and Google, the organization has found a way to guarantee lots of hits and discussion. Case in point: To celebrate social media giant Justin Bieber's 17th birthday on March 1, the Society rolled out a new version of Bieber's September performance of "Happy Birthday" with Usher, remixed by Mysto & Pizzi vs. Agent Jackson.

The new version has gotten more than 570,00 views on YouTube since its February 28 release. The ACS launched the More Birthdays campaign in April 2009, but it got a reboot in September 2010 when the organization added a gallery of entertainers and artists to the program.

Andy Goldsmith, vice president of creative and brand strategy for the ACS, says that the fact that celeb birthdays are often a topic of social media discussion wasn't a factor in planning the campaign, but it's a happy accident. "We didn't really base it on the fact that there would be a topspin created by a celebrity birthday," he says. "It was more based on the universal truth that everyone likes birthdays." Getting the message across in a positive manner was also a consideration.