The Campaign

#ReleaseThePressure – an initiative by Mirinda in partnership with Fortis Healthcare, India’s leading chain of hospitals. This initiative gave students a voice against the leading cause of depression and suicidal tendencies – Parental Pressure. It was the first nationwide campaign to bring this issue out in the open. Research shows frequent breaks between studies to be an effective way of releasing the pressure. Therefore Mirinda worked closely with the psychologists at Fortis Hospitals, and turned tools that add pressure into tools that release pressure. Mirinda urged students to take frequent breaks while studying to ease the pressure.

Creative Execution

It all started with Mirinda urging students to write open letters to their parents. Emotional letters poured in from across the country. The Mirinda bottle became the medium to carry these letters home. To offer free advice, Mirinda and Fortis Hospitals began to hold live counselling sessions for parents and teens. The Fortis helpline stayed open 24 hours. A series of HOW TO videos were released on social media to help the nation’s teens handle the pressure. Working closely with the psychologists At Fortis Hospitals, Mirinda also turned tools that add pressure into tools that release pressure. Every 10th page had something fun like jokes, games, origami etc. allowing students to take a break and get their mind off studies for a few minutes – to release the pressure Thousands of copies were printed and distributed across education centres.

An issue bubbling below the surface for the longest time, finally got its due acknowledgement. Mirinda not only became the voice of the teens but showed parents a beautiful way to support their kids. Consumer engagement went up 1100% as conversation around Mirinda grew 138x higher than the nearest beverage brand Over 193 media articles were written in support of the awareness created by the brand The digital film was viewed 35 million times in just one month, generating over 649 million free earned impressions More importantly, 1.57 million parents across the country pledged to release the pressure this exam season with Mirinda Making Mirinda the most loved brand for teens and an unlikely agent of change for millions of teenagers needing a release this exam season

For 2017 the brief was to give Mirinda playfulness a meaning. Instinctively, the insight revealed itself. Playfulness matters the most when it can bring awareness and help solve a serious health issue that can potentially tear up the social fabric of society. Parental Pressure is one of the leading causes of depression and suicidal tendencies among teens in India. Parents put so much pressure on kids about grades that it makes the kids bottle up and not communicate with the parents. Mirinda found a relevant role as the antidote to this massive social ill by speaking up for the silent students and giving their hidden stress a voice with #ReleaseThePressure. In addition to giving this serious health issue a voice Mirinda also equipped them with tools to also potentially perform better by encouraging parents to give their children a momentary break from their long hours of studies.