Coca-Cola will create more than one million Peace One Day cans, which will be on sale throughout the UK from September 2009. The specially designed cans will feature the Peace One Day logo and the message ‘What will you do?’, inspiring Coke drinkers to make their pledges for action on Peace Day.
Peace One Day was founded in 1999 by Jeremy Gilley, who embarked on a journey to establish the first ever fixed calendar day of global ceasefire and non-violence. In 2001, this became a reality when 192 member states of the United Nations adopted 21 September as an annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence ‘Peace Day’.
Since then, Peace One Day has worked to raise awareness of Peace Day and to inspire life-saving activities on the day. In 2007, over 100 million people (source: UN) were active on Peace Day in 192 countries. There were life-saving initiatives in 14 countries and more than 80 activities in Afghanistan alone, where Peace One Day was instrumental in securing the conditions in which safe polio vaccinations could take place. 1.4 million children were vaccinated against polio for Peace Day 2007. Peace Day 2008 saw the polio vaccination figure in Afghanistan rise by a further 1.6 million children.
Jeremy Gilley, founder of Peace One Day, said: “It’s fantastic that for the third year in a row we have the continued support from a brand like Coca-Cola. We’re so grateful to have the Peace One Day logo and ‘What will you do?’ call to action on the front of over one million cans. This activity is really going to help us drive awareness and challenge people to think about what they’re going to do on Peace Day 21 September.”
The Peace One Day initiative will also be supported on Coke Zone, Coca-Cola’s online loyalty scheme. Between 1-21 September, the homepage of the website will be dedicated to raising awareness of Peace One Day and encouraging its members to upload their pledges of peace.
Coke Zone users will be given the chance to exchange their points to win an all expenses paid trip to Paris for the Peace One Day 10th Anniversary Celebration, or exclusive Peace One Day merchandise designed by Marc Jacobs and to swap their points into donations for the Peace One Day organisation.
Additionally, the iconic Coca-Cola Piccadilly sign, from the 19-21 September, will host a variety of celebrity pledges from Peace One Day supporters, including Lenny Kravitz, Emilia Fox and John Legend.
Cathryn Sleight, marketing director for Coca-Cola Great Britain, said: “We’re delighted to be able to continue our ongoing relationship with Peace One Day and support Jeremy in his endeavor to spread the message of Peace Day throughout the world. We hope that with this unique Coca-Cola Peace One Day charity can, we can use our influence and reach to truly help to spread the word of peace and really encourage people to think about what peace means to them.”
Source: Coca-Cola Great Britain
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