While Starbucks is helping create more jobs across the USA, M&M’S is set to provide more rehabilitate houses to people across the country. The brand has launched a new campaign entitled “America Better With M,” which includes a partnership with Habitat for Humanity International and a series of efforts to encourage the nation to volunteer for the initiative in 2013. In addition the brand will launch a new product to support the project.

Samsung, which has been taking on its rivals Apple and BlackBerry in its recent advertising campaigns, now switches to a friendlier way to promote its Galaxy Note II smartphone. The brand is collaborating with fashion designer Alexander Wang on “the industry’s first co-created print inspired by crowdsourced sketches and images,” created using the Samsung device. The new partnership has both a fashion and a philanthropic twist: the collectively created design will be featured on a limited-edition bag set to be launched in key select markets across the globe to raise money for the Art Start charity, which helps change lives of at-risk children through art.

Samsung is tackling the problem of suicidal behavior in South Korea with the new initiative, developed by the Cheil Worldwide agency.

The country has the highest suicide rate among the 34 OECD members, including Greece, Italy, the UK, the USA, Denmark, Israel, Australian, France and more, and it’s high time to find a solution to this life related issue. With the new “Bridge of Life” project, Samsung Life Insurance, which is a subsidiary of the Samsung Group, targets those who stepped onto Mapo Bridge—one of the most popular spots for suicide attempts (over the past five years, 108 people have chosen it as a place to commit a suicide).

Today, clothing, footwear and accessories brands are expected to contribute not only to the development of fashion culture, but also to making the world a better place through supporting eco-focused and philanthropic projects. Michael Kors is joining this movement (H&M, Ralph Lauren, and many more) by launching a multi-year long-term partnership with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), aiming to fight hunger in the world. This partnership come as a follow-up to previous local initiatives by the brand, aimed at eradicating the hunger issue.

Levi’s is explaining how to combine sustainability and style. The brand, which has been spreading its eco-focused message for years, now partners with the Rhode Island School of Design to encourage young designers to adopt the green fashion outlook. The collaboration, launched as part of the RISD’s Designer in Residence program, includes the five-week course, which will be conducted by Nada Grkinich, senior director of Levi’s global footwear and accessories, and Paul Dillinger, senior director of Dockers color and concept design.

BMW and London’s Tate art gallery announce the program for 2013 BMW Tate Live. Started last year, BMW Tate Live is an international four-year creative partnership, which focuses on performance and interdisciplinary art in the gallery and online and aims to bring a new artistic developments to art lovers across the globe. The 2013 program includes two major pillars, BMW Tate Live: Performance Events (free and ticketed life performances within actual spaces) and BMW Tate Live: Performance Room (live performances hosted exclusively for online streaming for intentional viewers simultaneously). Plus, they will throw BMW Tate Live: Thought Workshops, which will include a range of participatory discussions.

Building on the success of its For Women in Science initiative, L’Oréal starts a similar program for girls in the USA. The cosmetics giant has launched the dedicated www.forgirlsinscience.org website, which is “designed to inspire and empower girls to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (S.T.E.M).” The new online destination, created to support the emerging female scientists, works as an educative and entertaining site at the same time.

When social networking platforms and fashion brands unite for good, it may lead to something unexpectedly meaningful, as it has been the case with NY designer and philanthropist Diane von Furstenberg, who teams up with the U.S. non-profit vision benefits company, VSP and NYC Mission Society in a move to engage Pinterest users in a social charitable project #PinToGiveAndGet.