Brief Explanation

The Challenge Hari Raya (Muslim New Year) was around the corner, with Merdeka (Malaysian National Day) following very closely. There was also rising tension in the nation following Bersih 2.0, a massive street rally demanding fair elections in July 2011. The challenge was delivering a festive greeting that expressed the Hari Raya spirit with the celebration of Merdeka. The Idea We combined the forgiveness element of Hari Raya with the partriotic spirit of Merdeka and gave Malaysians a platform to seek forgiveness. We released a YouTube video depicting the journey of people making apologies. A Facebook app enabled users to send online apologies, which were displayed on the website. Users could send Hari Raya greetings while seeking forgiveness from the recipients. They could also send photo and video apologies. The Results Within 3 days, the YouTube video was shared on Facebook over 40,000 times, and clocked over 98,000 views to date. Over 1,600 apologies were submitted on the website. The video was also featured on MSN’s 10 Best Viral Videos of the Week. Countless blogs featured the video, and it has spawned a tribute site (www.dearppl.com). Total PR garnered was worth an estimated USD1,040,000, from a media budget of RM0.