SITUATION

Agriculture is the backbone of the Indian economy. Contributing 18% to India's GDP. Employing 50% of the country’s workforce. Yet for decades, Indian farmers have suffered drought, flood, failed harvests. Stories of their poverty, suicides, protests have become daily news. But they remain helpless, hopeless, voiceless. PepsiCo relies heavily on the farming community in India and supports them with programmes covering water conservation, women empowerment, youth training and yield and income.

BRIEF

To uplift PepsiCo’s corporate reputation in India. From just another Fortune 500 company to a responsible corporate citizen.

OBJECTIVE

To change the perception of the public about PepsiCo in India by showing empathy and appreciation to the guardians of India’s magnificent land.

BUDGET

Under USD10K

For decades, Indian farmers have suffered drought, flood and failed harvests. Stories of their poverty, suicides and protests have become daily news. Yet, they remain helpless, hopeless and voiceless. PepsiCo relies heavily on the farming community in India and supports them with programs covering water conservation, women empowerment, youth training and yield and income. So during Baisakhi, the Agriculture New Year, when farmers pay tribute to the Gods for abundant harvest and prosperity, PepsiCo gave these unsung heroes something they truly deserve. A “thank you”.

The ‘Farmers, Our Pride’ campaign was a tribute to millions of farmers across India who tirelessly provide the food on our table every single day.

TARGET AUDIENCE

General public, particularly the urban population and the youth who live thousands of miles away from the agriculture heartland and therefore have low visibility of their sincerity, strength and hard work to feed millions.

We called upon real farmers from the agriculture heartland of India to capture the most authentic stories of their struggle, sincerity and strength. Relying solely on natural light to paint heroic yet candid, high-contrast imagery with a documentary angle that puts raw emotion under the spotlight. With extreme wide-angle shots, high-contrast black-and-white imagery. A wise man once said, “When you photograph people in colour, you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in black and white, you photograph their souls.”

Organic and immersive, each poster celebrates their dedication and hard work with a heartfelt poem handwritten in the Devanagari script.

APPROACH

• Out of sight is out of mind. Hence, it’s highly important to unveil the real life of farmers.

• Soft sell, through a poetic tribute to farmers.

• Sharing positivity in a world that often features negative headlines.

TOUCHPOINTS

• Trade shows, offices, trade channels, press conferences

BRAND IMPACT

• From 98.75% negative sentiment to 93% positive sentiment

HUMAN IMPACT

By making farmers our hero characters, we gave 50% of India’s population a resonating voice and created a unifying movement to show appreciation towards the hardest-working people in India — in response to their nationwide public protests.