The unique initiative by Coca Cola enables people in the two countries to communicate through vending machines fitted with webcams and touchscreen monitors.
Small gestures go a long way. And a unique campaign by Coca Cola that has helped diffuse the tension between India and Pakistan goes on to prove the same.
Relations between the two neighbouring countries have hit an all-time low in the recent years, be it Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh's death in a Pakistani jail, beheading of Indian soldiers at the border or the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.
But Coca Cola's initiative "Small World Machines" goes on to prove 'what unites us is stronger than what sets us apart'.
Filmed in March, a new three-minute ad by Coca Cola starts with shots of people in India and Pakistan who rue the differences between the two countries. The first section ends with a woman's voice saying, “Togetherness, humanity, this is what we all want, more and more exchange.” And all this can be achieved by 'opening a bottle of happiness'.
For the ad, two high-tech Coca-Cola vending machines were wheeled into a shopping mall in Lahore, Pakistan, and another in New Delhi, India. On the front of each machine was a giant, touch-activated 3-D screen.
The vending machines on either end featured a webcam and a giant touchscreen monitor. Mall-goers on either side were invited to interact with one another, by doing simple tasks such as touching hands “through” the screen, by tracing peace signs, making happiness symbols and even by sharing a dance.
The idea behind the initiative is to engage with each other in doing simple tasks.
Nearly 10,000 Coke cans were given away over three days. The machines are now on their way back to Atlanta as the team is currently plotting their next trip to try and bridge countries in conflict.
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