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Today's Paper | November 23, 2024

Updated 18 Jun, 2017 10:18am

Pakistan comes together to light up lives

Pepsi's Liter of Light initiative aims to bring light to the 35 million Pakistanis who still live in off-grid areas.

Through this campaign, multi-serve bottles of Pepsi are transformed into solar lights that illuminate the night. Pepsi and Liter of Light have collaborated nationally and internationally for a long time; one of the more prominent examples being of the Philippines.

In Pakistan, there has been a dire need for a brand to step up and contribute towards elevating the quality of life for millions of people whose life come to a complete halt as soon as the sun goes down.

Pepsi initiated this program in 2015, taking it to new heights in the years passed since, and lighting up the lives of more than 70,000 people and more than 40 villages in the far-flung corners of Pakistan, including the Thar desert and more recently the fishermen communities in Sajawal, Sindh.

Light installations have been carried out with the support of Ace Welfare led by Vaqas Butt and his team of volunteers. An installation plan is charted out for the full year, while the monthly progress of the installations is monitored.

This year Pepsi intends to create a national movement through a televised commercial, an exclusive song featuring Atif Aslam and Abida Parveen, print media, out-of-home (OOH) advertising, packaging, in-store and digital campaigns in order to light up Pakistan 'one bottle at a time!'

Many celebrities and media personalities are making sure they show their full support for this project, especially on social media.

In an interesting spin on things, a wave of online volunteerism has been seen with the #EyesClosedForLight campaign, through which Pepsi has promised to help light up a life for every photo upload. This campaign aims to garner more awareness and advocacy for the cause and bring the matter into a bigger spotlight than before.

At many points in a country’s history, citizens and corporations need to take matters into their own hands, and Pepsi has given Pakistan the opportunity to do just that.

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