In a society where most people check the time on their cell phones, the San Diego-based company Flex Watches is using traditional watches for a greater cause than accessorizing.
Flex Watches produces watches in 10 different colors that represent 10 charities and 10 percent of all proceeds go to the charity represented by a specific color. To create more awareness for the company, Flex Watches developed a program called Campus Reps, in which interested students can sign up to become promoters on their campuses.
UI sophomore Brock Prince said he wanted to get involved with promoting them after his brother, who lives in San Diego, gave him one of the watches for Christmas.
“My brother said the watches are really popular down in Southern California,” Prince said. “It’s an organization that everyone can relate to and I wanted to inform students at UI, as well as the Moscow community about them, so I signed up.”
Flex Watches was first promoted by the members of MTV’s The Real World, San Diego. The company’s website stated its main goal is to raise awareness for the 10 charities it paired up with, each displaying a different color. Those interested can visit the website at www.flexwach.com/charities.
Prince said he received the gray Flex watch, which represents the group Imerman Angels. This organization pairs a person touched by cancer with someone who has fought and survived cancer.
“My brother got me the gray watch because my grandma was affected by cancer,” Prince said. “The charities they represent are of a wide variety, and can relate to everyone and stand for something more to the person than just a watch.”
Tracy Peterson, a UI senior, became a campus representative for Flex Watches after living in San Diego. She said she noticed everyone wearing them, and after doing some research signed up to be a campus rep.
“These watches are fun and appeal to the college student crowd,” Peterson said. “Even though they are a newer company, when people start asking questions it creates a spark that continues.”
Peterson said she started at the beginning of the year and the first watch she owned was the blue watch. The blue represents the Nika Water charity, an organization that helps bring clean water to impoverished areas that aren’t able to access it.
“There are a wide variety of charities, ones that are really important in the world,” Peterson said. “I enjoy promoting them because it’s really easy to get the word out there for such a good cause.”
The watches cost $30 and are available online. They can be purchased individually or in large amounts for a cheaper price.
“I think that these watches are a good purchase for anyone,” Peterson said. “It’s a great way to get the best of both worlds — you get to help out with something that can be really important to you and is important for someone else.”