Pepsi made a buzz with its celeb-sparkling Liter of Light campaign, and recently, in collaboration with ACE Welfare Foundation, launched its #EyesClosedForLight book at the popular Ejaz Art Gallery in Lahore.
The book features photographs highlighting how Pepsi’s Liter of Light campaign provided real change in the lives of the deserving and helped to empower them. The event was well-attended by celebrities like Mehwish Hayat, Adnan Siddiqui, Atif Aslam, Hamza Ali Abbasi and Mira Sethi, who gave a heartfelt speech about how important such initiatives are not just for responsible organizations but for the thousands of deserving people in need of a little bit of hope.
Mira Sethi, spoke passionately about, “cracking open a ray of light,†and, “nurturing private woundsâ€. She signed off with praise for Pepsi and the Liter of Light campaign for this effort towards community development.
Mira Sethi at Pepsi’s Liter of Light event.
Although the event came together well, at points it felt more like an exercise in making the hashtag trend on social media rather than a sincere effort to bring light to issues faced by thousands of people living in darkness. We did feel the celebrities could have spoken more, or been more involved in the event than just dressing up, showing up and being photographed. For that reason we must commend Mira Sethi who stood apart from her own community at the event, and took the opportunity to speak up about the cause.
Mehwish Hayat with the ‘Tree of Light’ at the event
Within the last couple of years, Pepsi has helped put up over 190,000 lights in 95,000 homes, impacting over 475,000 people globally in underdeveloped areas of the world. Due to its simplicity and adaptability, this program has branched out well, and is currently spreading light in 24 countries worldwide.
Apart from this, Pepsi has also provided hundreds of green jobs around the world. Corporate companies often offer such campaigns, so it is great to see one that has sustained, and can make real change in the lives of the many thousands, if not millions, of people in Pakistan who live in off-the-grid areas with a few extra hours of light each day.
We only hope that in its next spell, the company focuses more on involving activists and social entrepreneurs to increase the campaign’s effectiveness in bringing light to those who need it, and less on creating a popular social media campaign.
