As you may recall, we jump started the campaign with events around our infamous Yahoo! yodel, which we’ve updated and riffed on in new ways with the Yodel Studio. Now we’ve launched some audibles to go with it that let you yodel as much as you want with twists of reggae, bluegrass, hip-hop, a capella, and R&B.

To access the audibles, click on the Audibles icon in the IM window, click “More Audibles”, go to “See All Audibles”, then find “Yahoo! Yodels” in the list. Audibles are available for Yahoo! Messenger 8.1, 9.0 and 10 only.

You can also dress up your Avatar in some of the latest Yahoo! gear, including t-shirts with the slogans from the campaign: “It’s my Web, you just live in it” and “Master of the Digital Universe”. To get changed, head over to Yahoo! Avatars, click on the “Branded” tab, then click on the “Yahoo!” link.

And if you want more than virtual reality, head over to the Yahoo! Company Store to order a real live t-shirt or other Y! gear.

Sarah Bacon
Product Manager

For starters, you can change your Avatar to display a pink ribbon, the symbol of support for finding a cure for breast cancer. Just head over to the “Show your Support” section on the Avatars site and click on the third page of items.

We also started a campaign to get people to update their Yahoo! profile status message to show their support. When we launched it on October 1, we pledged to donate $50,000 to The National Breast Cancer Foundation once 50,000 Yahoo! users made their update. Good news! We reached that goal and as of this writing, we’re nearing the 80,000 mark.

Even though we’ve reached our goal, we hope you’ll still update your Profile status to support those affected by breast cancer.

Or click here to change your Yahoo! Messenger status to read “I support Breast Cancer Awareness Month”. Note that the link to change your status will only work if you have Yahoo! Messenger running. You could also change your Yahoo! Messenger skin to “twinkle pink”, just to show your desktop that you support the cause.

Need some retail therapy? Head over to Yahoo! Shopping and check out some items whose proceeds benefit breast cancer research.

While Yahoo! has always powered up the network to support Breast Cancer Awareness Month, this year is a little more significant as our own CEO, Carol Bartz, is a survivor.

Thanks for your support,

Sarah Bacon
Product Manager

Stars & Stripes for your Avatar
Visit the Fourth of July section on Yahoo! Avatars and dress your Avatar in some patriotic gear. Choose from flag-themed clothing and backgrounds filled with fireworks.

Skin it red or blue
Change your Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 skin to ruby red, icy blue or sky blue. Click the gold dot near the very top of the 9.0 Messenger window.

Wave your flag
Don’t forget about the hidden emoticon for the US flag. Hover your mouse on the emoticon to see the text shortcut ==>

Red, white & blue display images
Click on one of the images below to change your display image in Yahoo! Messenger 9.0. If you’re on a different version of Messenger, right click and save the image to your desktop. Then manually add it to your Yahoo! Messenger.

Happy Fourth of July to everyone!

Sarah Bacon
Product Manager

The fundraising drives features a friendly competition among the Armed Forces –- Army, Air Force, Marines, Navy and Coast Guard — to see which branch’s supporters can have the biggest impact on classrooms. As of June 9th, they have raised more than $130,000, and the Army is barely hanging on to the lead (check out the leaderboard as the tension builds in real-time).

To help raise awareness for this effort, Yahoo! Avatars teamed up with Colbert to make some custom Stephen Colbert Avatars and accessories. So go put on your Colbert Avatar gear to show your support for the “Support Our Troops” campaign. You can also donate to the campaign to help fund the classroom projects.

Oh and don’t be fooled by Colbert’s full head of hair in his Avatar pics. In a recent show of solidarity, Stephen Colbert, on President Obama’s order, had his head shaved by show guest General Ray Odierno. Watch the video to see the clippers in action (go to the 4:00 mark for the good stuff):

In Yahoo!’s new Make It Green initiative, we want to turn great ideas that improve lives and help our planet into actual products. We’re looking for the best green do-it-yourself ideas — and we need you to help us.

Submit your idea, and if it’s chosen, you could see your product on store shelves, get $2,500 and a share of the sales, and possibly appear on the Everyday Edisons TV show. Note that there is a $10 entry fee.

Need some inspiration? Dress up your Avatar in new Make It Green gear or use the Avatar Makeover plug-in to dress up your Messenger friends. Maybe together you can dream up your green idea over IM and have it turned into an actual product.

And if you’re stumped for ideas, that’s ok. We need people to vote on ideas too! Take a few moments to browse the submissions in the Make It Green Idea Gallery. Be sure to give a thumbs up to the ones you think are the best.

Sarah Bacon
Product Manager

The Yahoo! Green Earth Day site has tons of advice, tips and tricks for saving the earth and your pennies. Browse the virtual house on the homepage to find affordable ways to go green in every room of your abode or check out their helpful buying guides on cleaning products, water filters, and energy efficient products. Plus find out which household appliances have earned the nickname “energy vampire“.

While you’re thinking green, why not get your Avatar in the mood too? Head over to the Yahoo! Avatars website to get decked out in fun Earth Day apparel. Then help spread the word about Earth Day (April 22) to all your friends on Messenger!

Sarah Bacon
Product Manager

Flickr IMVironment: Get in the winter spirit
Put some seasonal photos into your IM background with the Flickr IMV. It will open automatically to pictures from December, full of snowy landscapes and other winter favorites. Try it now with a friend or preview it yourself. (Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 only).

Holiday audibles
We’ve brought back the “Holiday” and “Holiday Hints” audibles. Send a mistletoe kiss to your sweetie or send a not-so-gentle reminder that you want to find a MP3 player under the tree this year. (Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 only)

Emoticarolers
Pick the Yahoo! Messenger Emoticarolers for your group, customize the lyrics to a favorite tune like “Jingle Bells” or “Deck the Halls”, and then send your e-card off to the digital doorsteps of your friends and family.

Pingbox holiday themes
Check out the new background themes in the Pingbox studio. If you’re already hosting a Pingbox on your website or social network profile, just edit its settings in the studio and your Pingbox will automatically get updated.

Elf your Avatar (or a friend’s)
Dress up your Avatar with holiday cheer for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or New Year’s. Or install the Yahoo! Avatars Makeover plug-in to create a new Avatar for your friends (plug-in for Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 only).

Happy Holidays!

Sarah Bacon
Product Manager

P.S. – In addition to all these Messenger holiday goodies, there’s also a Yahoo! holiday e-card called “Frosty’s Scrapbook”. Choose a background (or upload your own photo) and then drag and drop fun objects into your card to create your holiday scrapbook greeting.

Boo!
Send spooky greetings to your Messenger friends with the Halloween audibles. You can egg their IM window, send a black cat across their path, or scare them with a werewolf, ghost or ghastly scream.

Get out and vote
Early voting has already started in some states and our election audibles are ready to help you make sure your friends make it to the polls by November 4th. All the biggies are there – Abraham Lincoln, Uncle Sam, and the Statue of Liberty. And although you can’t wear election gear to the polls, you can outfit your Avatar with apparel to support your party or candidate.

Meooowwww
We know you love the Emoticats IMV so we turned your furry friends into audibles. There’s a happy cat, a “vacationing” cat, and even an emoticat with a ‘tude.

To try them out, click the audibles icon ( ) above the text box in your IM window (Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 only). Click the More Audibles button on the right, then “See All Audibles”. Then select “Halloween”, “Election” or “Emoticats” from the list.

Sarah Bacon
Product Manager

Grown men will cry, women who don’t normally follow sports will become rabid with NCAA fever, and productivity in offices will take a hit as workers follow the games from their cubicles. Of course Yahoo! Messenger has a few items to further fuel your basketball obsession…

When it comes time to taunt your friends about their team losing or making a bad play, check out the NCAA audibles. There’s a referee ready to charge your friend with an offensive foul, a baseball cap-wearing superfan (complete with horn), and a laid back player who illustrates what it means when the defense is “taking a vacation”. To access the NCAA audibles, click the Audible icon in your IM window, click “More Audibles”, then “See All Audibles” and select NCAA Basketball (Yahoo! Messenger 8.1 or 9.0 Beta only).

You can also show your team pride by dressing the part. Head over to the NCAA section on Yahoo! Avatars to find jerseys from over 25 schools including Duke, University of North Carolina, UCLA, Kentucky and more.

To find out more about the tournament and follow all the action, check out NCAA Basketball on Yahoo! Sports. You still have time to pick your teams before the first game – download the tournament brackets: Men’s | Women’s

And if you’re on the go and want to follow what’s happening, go to http://m.yahoo.com/ncaa from your mobile phone for the latest scores and highlights.

Go team!

Sarah Bacon
Product Manager

Yahoo! has partnered with Diet Dr. Pepper for a Valentine’s Day promotion called “Valentine’s in Vegas: Marry my Avatar”. Type in the Yahoo! ID of the Avatar you want to get hitched to, and voila, you’ll see your betrothed avatars together in front of a Las Vegas wedding chapel (Elvis not included).

To make sure your Avatar is appropriately dressed before taking the plunge, head over to Yahoo! Avatars and enter “wedding” into the search box.

If your Avatar does elope to Vegas for a quickie wedding, it’s only right that you send out picture proof to your friends and family (or the paparazzi). Just click to share it on del.icio.us, Yahoo! Messenger or Facebook.

Check out the Valentine’s in Vegas gallery to see Avatars that have already tied the knot today.

Sarah Bacon
Product Manager