On September 20, 2017, Hurricane María ravaged the Island of Puerto Rico, taking with it a big toll on the country’s spirit. One of the most traumatic aspects of the hurricane’s passing, as victims recall, was the strident sound of its violent winds. El Nuevo Día, Puerto Rico’s most prominent newspaper, was expected, naturally, to publish commemorative editorials recounting the tragedy and hardships that ensued the ferocious storm.

For the hurricane’s anniversary, El Nuevo Día decided that the country should wake up to hopeful news, and created an effort to connect the country in a singular, uplifting moment– a live streamed concert on their social platform that would take place on the same place/time where the hurricane made landfall a year before. Instead of waking to the echo of roaring winds, Puerto Rico would wake to the sound of hope. The performance would symbolize a “turning of a page”, reminding Puerto Ricans, in an unconventional way for a newspaper, of the beauty of the country and its community in order to heighten their spirits and inspire optimism towards the future.

In Puerto Rico, when it comes to news, bad news seem to dominate the headlines – violence, corruption, struggling economy etc. For hurricane María’s anniversary, it seemed only natural that the trend would continue, as newspapers were expected to publish commemorative articles recounting the hardships the entire country had to endure. El Nuevo Día, the country’s leading newspaper, opted to break the trend and did something completely different for the category.

The newspaper coordinated a sunrise concert in which Puerto Rico’s most beloved song “Puerto Rican Sunrise” would be performed at the exact location and time of the day where the hurricane made landfall a year before. The song was performed by its own author along with the University of Puerto Rico Choir, and was live streamed on El Nuevo Día’s digital platform.

The brand created an online space where, in a country of 3.5 million people, more than 2 million experienced the performance, which was shared over half a million times. It reached every TV and radio platform on the country, becoming trending topic of the day. International newspapers such as the New York Times were quick to cover the story.