Another Clio gold for Philippines

There is now light at the end of a “bottle.”

If you see shanty roofs with protruding Pepsi plastic bottles, don’t think that the residents have replaced old tires as protection from typhoons.

The bottles are actually light bulbs, slipped from the outside and installed right in.

The bottles provide marginalized Filipino households with daytime lighting and it does not use electricity.

Last week the reward for Pepsi’s ad agency BBDO-Guerrero was electric. By focusing on the bottle as a medium with which to provide light for the residences of the poorest of the poor, the agency won for the country its second Gold Clio. It was also the first for a high-profile brand.

Young & Rubicam Manila previously won a gold for an unbranded public service ad in 2007.

BBDO-Guerrero won the iconic gold Clio statue for Innovative Media. Winners celebrated their triumph in a ceremony held last May 15 at New York City’s American Museum of Natural History.

“It’s a tremendous achievement,” said BBDO-Guerrero chief executive officer Tony Harris.

He admitted that because Filipinos are more welcoming, “it’s more fun in the Philippines than in London,” his place of work prior to his Manila stint.

“It’s such a great honor for the Philippines showing the world that it is far more advanced by winning in a medium so innovative and beneficial to a lot people,” a proud Harris said in an interview.

Harris paid tribute to Pepsi for being a friend of the agency, supportive and encouraging. He also exalted the agency’s energetic and enthusiastic talents.

“They’re just teeming with ideas,” he said of the agency staff.

In the Philippines, where daytime lighting is a scarce commodity for the urban poor, millions of homes have no natural light source. Lights must be kept day and night causing electric bills to rise.

Thanks to the country’s most internationally awarded ad agency and Pepsi, together with MyShelter Foundation, they created the “Liter of Light” campaign, an initiative that provided communities with low-cost, carbon-free lighting solution using old plastic bottles.

Online and on the ground, BBDO-Guerrero made Pepsi a hero, bringing hope to those who can’t afford electricity.

In one of the virals, BBDO-Guerrero showed houses in a slum district in Manila, near a railroad track. The alleys are claustrophobically narrow.

Dingy, lurid, the atmosphere contributed to making it a virtually dark world. People either slept it off or stayed outdoors.

Here, “Solar Demi” was God-sent, gaining popularity for brightening up many homes in the squatter area of Sitio Maligaya. He taught many residents to do these simple steps: Punch a hole on a piece of metal roofing. Fill the bottle with filtered water. Add some bleach. Slip in the plastic bottle from outside in. When installed, apply some sealant. Make sure it’s tightly sealed by contact cement to make the roof leak-free.

The bottle refracts the sun’s rays to produce daytime lighting equivalent to a 55-watt electric bulb.

In a San Juan City shantytown, Christmas lights were on at nighttime but dark during the day. Pepsi solar bottles solved the problem and, voila, the residents had daytime lighting.

Shanty residents gave testimonies how a cola brightened their day. One said his electricity bill went down, another said it never heated up.

But the most remarkable thing was that it gave them hope.

Pepsi, the agency and My Shelter Foundation sought funding from a global audience to bring the gift of light to low-income communities in the country.

“Give the Gift of Light” e-card was launched using digital channels. Videos on YouTube and Facebook were similarly introduced. A “Bike for Light” was mounted, while web banners strengthened the campaign to heighten awareness.

The e-card allowed individuals to donate directly to the project at www.aliterofkight.org, the website carrying the solar lighting project’s new global identity, a Liter of Light.

Result: Over 10,000 volunteers gathered, 20,000 bulbs were installed, 46,666 lives brightened. According to the agency, the project was recognized at the 2012 Pepsico Global Performance with a Purpose Awards.

It also gained the support of the Philippine government and was specially commended at the 2011 World Climate Conference covered by BBC, NHK and other networks, and presented at TED X in Dubai and Mumbai.

Pepsi also exerted efforts in sharing the “Bottle of Light” initiative across other Pepsi offices around the world, notably in Kenya, Uganda, Indonesia, Vietnam, India and Colombia.

CLIO Awards received over 11,000 submissions from countries worldwide this year. The complete list of winners in all categories is now available at: www.clioawards.com/catalog.

BBDO New York won as Agency of the Year, Ogilvy & Mather as Network of the Year, Volkswagen as Advertiser of the Year and Wieden+Kennedy London winner of the prestigious Hall of Fame Award.

The 53rd Annual CLIO Awards will be hosted by comedy icon Joan Rivers. Annie Leibovitz and Anthony Bourdain will be presented with Honorary CLIOs.

Piyush Pandey, Ogilvy & Mather India executive chair, will receive the 2012 CLIO Lifetime Achievement Award.

Creative Credits:

Ad Agency: BBDO-Guerrero/Proximity Philippines

Chief Creative Officer: David Guerrero

Creative Director: Dale Lopez

Art Directors: Dale Lopez, Dennis Nierra, Tim Villela, Leah Mababangloob

Copywriters: Raymund Sison, Rachel Teotico

Producers: Jing Abellera and Ino Magno